The Rocky Horror Show is a different sort of a play. It was largely a flop when it first arrived on a London stage, but it then grew a strong cult following. So it became a movie. It was a flop of a movie, but then it became a cult classic with the goth theater crowd, who like to see movies at midnight at independent movie houses. It is now the longest running movie in film history.



Harlequin Productions in Olympia is staging the original theatrical version, making it one of the most entertaining shows of the South Sound theater season. Audiences are almost guaranteed to joke and jitter in the aisles of Harlequin’s historic State Theater.



The show is simply outrageously fun not only because of the acting on stage but because of the antics happening off the stage as the audience does all of the gags and side comments people have come to expect when they experience the oversexed and highly objectified Rocky Horror.



The show follows the story of the movie. A couple of young and naive lovers find themselves in a secluded castle after their car suffers a flat tire on a dark and stormy night. The weary travelers are first welcomed by the castle’s odd resident and then find themselves at the middle of what best can be described as an odd love hexagon, where seemingly everyone wants to bang everyone else — boys, girls, boy and boys and girls and girls and boys and all things living.



Anchoring the show is the mad, hyper-sexed leader of this group of gothic freaks, the iconic Frank-n-Furter (played by Bret Beaudry.) Beaudry, making his debut at the theater, manages to hold his own in the role as well as add a little something to the character by adding another level of energy the movie version of the role doesn’t have.



And, of course, Russ Holm is amazing in his portrayal of Frank-N-Furter’s sidekick, Riff Raff. He is always a pleasure to see whether during the theater’s Stardust series or in Hamlet or in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.



Sara Flotree also lands a standout performance as Magenta.



What makes this show more than just an exploration of torn lingerie and transsexual behavior is its basic message, which is often overlooked. The show is a twisted version of the Genesis story of Adam and Eve and their fall from the garden of Eden after sampling the forbidden fruit. In this telling, Frank-N-Furter is the forbidden fruit, so to speak, and the couple represents Adam and Eve. Viewing the show from that perspective elevates it beyond two hours of debauchery — not that there is anything wrong with that.



Audience members should either bring their own participation kits or spend the extra $5 and buy a kit from the theater since watching the show without being part of the act can be incredibly awkward and a total buzz kill of the evening.



[State Theater, The Rocky Horror Show, through July 6, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $12-$18, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia; 360.786. 0151 www.harlequinproductions.org]