Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built Hill Valley… in London? Insert confused expressions here.
Calling all Back to the Future fans willing to immerse themselves in the coolest form of cinematic experience! I had never heard of Secret Cinema and when a friend called me a couple of months ago to buy tickets I was a bit apprehensive. They were £56 pp (enough to raise eyebrows on blindly buying tickets from my Husband) but so very worth it.
Secret Cinema managed to recreate Hill Valley in London with such panache and flair I forgot I was on the wrong side of the Atlantic for this to be real! Before the event there were emails giving individual identities and occupations to all attendees. I worked as a Town Clerk at City Hall and my outfit was to reflect this. In my party there was a Student that was requested to attend the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, a Comic Store Worker required to report for duty at the shop and an Egg Gatherer who worked at Twin Pine Ranch, quite an assortment! The location is kept a secret (hence the name) until the day of your ticket.
Immersion began in the que upon arrival, where the simulation was already in full effect. Actors (there were over 100 milling around) dressed as police men telling us to put our ‘calculators’ away, meaning of course our phones, as they did not exist in the 1950’s. My Husband the Farmer was quickly baptised by the Peabody’s upon entrance into the ranch and we rode on the school bus to the High School and attended the dance. Hill Valley was in full splendour with everything there from Lou’s Cafe, a Texaco Gas Station, the fair and of course Town Hall itself. An impressive site full of activities before the film screening at 9:00pm that there was no time to get bored before laying down your blanket to enjoy the show. I particularly enjoyed the Future Bar which was set in the 80’s where hundreds of people danced a routine en mas. There must have been about 3,000 people in attendance all dressed in 50’s splendour.
The film screening itself was a real treat where most was acted out in front of us and the star DeLorean was ever present! The pyrotechnics didn’t disappoint and we witnessed Doc ziplining accross the square and flaming tyre tracks at the end!
Oh what a delight this evening was, well worth the money and effort to dress up! You should be willing to participate as an active audience member and ‘play along’ with the actors to get the most out of the experience! Don’t be shy and put that American accent on, it could mean winning prom King or Queen!
I sincerely cannot wait for the next screening, whatever it may be. Besides, who doesn’t like being in on a secret?!
Dr Emmett Brown: “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
-till the next experience
For more information on Secret CInema and upcoming productions, visit them on www.secretcinema.org (tell no one).
YOLO Inc. 