by Peter J. Knight
14th February 2012 saw the launch of a new venue by Future Cinema, the same company behind the Secret Cinema experience, choosing “Brief Encounter” as the launch film. The idea is that they want to take you back to visiting cinema in the 1940s. What was also interesting about The Other Cinema, is that is was not happening in just one location, but several right across the country at the same time.
For various reasons, it was a bit of a last minute decision to go on a Friday evening – to the Troxy Cinema in East London, although I had read little of the advertising publicity after seeing an initial email talking about the launch, so I was not really sure what I was letting myself in for. However, on arriving outside the Troxy, at 18:50 (doors were due to open at 19:00), it was obvious that this was not going to be any old night, but something quite amazing. There was a long queue of people already waiting outside, the vast majority of whom where dressed up in bow ties, suits or evening gowns. There was a red carpet, ‘press photographers’ from the 1940s, and staff checking your name off the ‘guest list’ and presenting you with a ticket which would have once upon time arrived from a auto-ticket machine. Very quickly it was also noticeable who the cinema manager was as he walked up and down the line in his best evening attire.
Shortly after queueing the doors opened to the cinema and we walked through the doors, being greeted by conseurs on the doors, who welcomed every guest and took our tickets from us. Having never been inside the Troxy the entrance foyer was a beautiful place. Once we got across the foyer to the auditorium we were greeted (again) by ushers who would show eight up us to our tables inside. They were friendly and polite and our table was at the front of an upper level slightly to the left of the stage/screen.
While the cinema seats had been removed long ago the inside of the auditorium was filled up with tables and eight chairs, all of which had a white table cloth, a flower, and song cards on them. On one side of the auditorium was a bar and on the other was an area selling ‘traditional food’. At the back of the auditorium where we had entered was an area selling cakes, sweets and popcorn (freshly made), and an area for taking photographs in a traditional scene.
During all this time on stage was a live jazz band playing music, which continued for a while longer. Throughout the auditorium were characters from the 1940s interacting with the audience. Once the Jazz band had finished on stage there were other live shows performed by a number of the characters who had been walking around the auditorium, including a welcome by the Manager who also acted as the compare for the evening.
Before the main feature there was the ‘National Anthem’, for which the entire audience stood (by this time it was nearly 20:45 and there were probably close to 1200 people both downstairs and upstairs, of which 98% were dressed up for the evening). After the National Anthem, there was a commercial (for Secret Cinema), and then a silent black and white short, accompanied by a live pianist on stage, before the main feature started. After the film, the tables were going to be cleared away to create a dance floor for people to dance the rest of the night away.
It was one of the most exciting evenings I have ever had and it was interesting to see how everyone really got into the activities, and the atmosphere which was being created. It was beautifully executed and technically performed. It was really good value for money, both the bar, and the tickets themselves. It was over four hours of entertainment for £20 and was a real mixture of theatre and cinema – I really did feel like I was back in the 1940s. Without question I shall be going back again, and dragging friends with me as it would really add to the experience. And that was really what is was, an experience.
For more Information http://www.theothercinema.org/
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