The actors of The Bawdy Caste suit up like soldiers going to battle. They carefully and strategically place each rhinestone and faux mole with precision and skill. Backstage, the ground trembles with anticipation from the crowd outside waiting for the clock to strike midnight. With the makeup and glitter layered on with excessive expertise and the last fishnet legging is gartered, the cast lines up to greet crazed fans. The line snaked around the corner of the Clay Theatre for the resurrection of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The Bawdy Caste is the acting troupe that performed the first interactive Rocky Horror in San Francisco in almost a decade. Shannon Wilke, co-director of The Bawdy Caste, has played Magenta for 13 years either in the East Bay or surrounding cities, but never in San Francisco. “There has been periods where the cast didn’t have a theatre,” Wilke said. “The person in charge of the casts at the time wasn’t really trying.”

The Rocky Horror Picture Show represents the rich history of interactive theatre. After taking a backseat to traditional movies, Rocky returned to San Francisco as an interactive movie with a new cast, new fans and the same extremities. Rocky physically brought the audience onto the stage and into the performance with activities and games before and between the shows, a concept that has been hushed in the last decade.

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