“Don’t Dream It, Be It”: Exploring signification, empathy and mimesis in relation to The Rocky Horror Show’

The Rocky Horror Show is an extreme example of audience interaction and mimicry. However, by analysing its performance, in which physical responses can be easily discerned, this article explores some of the ways musicals signify and some of the empathetic and mimetic effects of musical theatre on audiences. Although The Rocky Horror Show is not necessarily representative of all musicals, it has elements in common with many other musicals, and so the majority of the arguments made here can be applied more widely. The proposition here is that the complexity of musical theatre performance requires engagement with both objective and subjective positions in order to begin to understand its affects and its means of communication.