As we get closer to Old St tube station the people in white multiply. We stream towards the venue past long lines of people putting on decontamination suits bearing the legend 'Nostromo'. Joining our place in the queue we pass a window where a group of astronauts argue around a table. We finally enter the building through a vibrating airlock...It all started when I received an email from Secret Cinema, London's latest pop-up happening for cinephiles. Sign up to the website and Secret Cinema will eventually invite you to the next screening - film to be revealed and venue to be announced. All you know is that it'll happen on a certain date somewhere in London.
We emerge in a huge concrete space foaming with dry ice and filled with over a thousand people in their white hooded suits. A disembodied head sits in the corner of the bar and an alien form slithers round the stairwell. We sit in front of a huge screen clutching our popcorn and a glass of wine, and the lights go down...
There's a lot to be said for the power of anticipation. I lost count of the number of emails I exchanged with my sister speculating on which film we were going to see. As it turned out neither of us got it right, despite the very obvious hints (well done, movie buffs, Nostromo is the space ship in Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Alien).
The lights come up again. "That was brilliant!" enthuses my sister. We hang around a bit listening to a DJ mixing alien beats live (even worse than it sounds) and then head off to a nearby bar for a drink where, to be fair, they don't bat an eyelid at our decontamination suits.
I think it's a love it or hate it type of event, but if you like a bit of intrigue and are excited by the idea of dressing up...Secret Cinema could be your next big night out.
Naomi Delap, Managing Director, Inside Job Productions
No comments:
Post a Comment