After an short run of events for Wes Anderson’s new film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Secret Cinema return to cloak and dagger best with their elaborate, immersive and wholly rewarding production, Secret Cinema 21.
Told little but when and where to be and which colours accent the 1920s dress code, 21 feels like an interactive theatre production in the run-up to the movie at the end of the night. While at previous Secret Cinema events it often felt like a lot of stuff was happening around you but you were never really involved, at 21 we actively progressed the story on several occasions, doing missions for several characters dotted around expansive set.
With events like The Heist and Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man snapping at the heels of Secret Cinema, 21‘s level of audience involvement needs to become their new norm and the team deserve huge credit for crafting their own complex narrative off the back of the night’s movie, and delivering it with such precision and sheer fun.
After selling out every evening of the initial 29-date run, Secret Cinema 21 has been extended with an addition 12 dates in May. At £53.50, Secret Cinema is an expensive night out but this might be the first production that is really worth the money. With a couple of cocktails in you, racing around doing tasks for the police and the mob and then an amazing movie at the end, it’s one of the best nights out you’ll have all year.
The final dates for Secret Cinema 21 run between 8th-25th May, tickets are available from the Secret Cinema website: http://www.secretcinema.org/tickets
Editor’s note: Be aware that mobile phones and cameras are held by the Secret Cinema security team for the duration of the event. Leave them at home if you don’t want to have to hand them in.
Photography by Hanson Leatherby (Images 1, 3, 4, 5) and Maximilien Letek (Image 2).