Fifty years ago The Rocky Horror Show, one of the most successful musicals ever written, took to the stage and has played almost continuously since then to a claimed 30 million people in 30 countries and even more when you take the movie version into account.

Now its creator, Richard O’Brien, has produced a new play for the times.

Whereas the Rocky Horror Show reflected the gender-bending, glam-rock era of the early ‘70s, his new work, Kingdom of Bling, is a reaction to the divisive, conspiracy-fuelled, polarised politics of today.

“The Kingdom of Bling is a satirical fairy tale,” O’Brien said at the nationwide launch for the musical in Auckland. “I was driven to write it by the dreadfulness of Donald Trump’s presence in the world.