Rocky Horror Turns Forty

New Zealand-raised actor Richard O’Brien, 70, writer of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, talks about family shame over working class roots, being transgender, the difficulty of born- again Christians, wanting to be a fairy princess, wearing dresses, abandoning a child, getting married at 70 — and that’s just his personal life not the show. In 1951, O’Brien emigrated with his family to Tauranga, where his father had purchased a sheep farm. “I made sure I returned to New Zealand with [my children] on a regular basis because I wanted them to know their aunties, uncles and grandparents in case anything happened to me.” The 40th anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show is touring the UK.


Tags: Guardian (The)  Richard O'Brien  The Rocky Horror Picture Show  The Rocky Horror Show  

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art

Like many writers before her, New Zealand-born Amy Brown takes inspiration from the Australian feminist icon Stella Maria Miles Franklin in her captivating debut novel My Brilliant Sister – but instead…