Secret Cinema Presents: The Empire Strikes Back!

Wow guys! It's been a while! I'm so sorry! The past few months (specifically August, September and especially October) have all been so, so busy I just couldn't find time to sit down and catch up! With November here, I'm finally free! I've got some awesome new plans for blogging in the new year (including finally uploading videos to my long neglected Youtube channel!) so I think it's about time I finally blew the dust off this place and caught everyone up!

Way back in August, the last thing I blogged about here was Kitacon! That same week, Moose and I had tickets to go to 'Secret Cinema'. For those who don't know, Secret Cinema is a whole immersive experience based around a particular film. In the past, they've featured Back to the Future, The Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca. This year, they did Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Moose wanted to go the second he heard about it, but to my shame, I'd never seen Star Wars! I know, I know.

Anyway, he scored tickets for his birthday, and it was incredible! I made sure to watch 'A New Hope' before, and I gotta say I can think of worse ways to watch 'The Empire Strikes Back' for the first time ever! The whole evening was brilliant! Secret Cinema assign you an ID and a role (Moose and I were both 'Galactic Explorers') and tell you a time and place to meet. You're given a dress code, and a pop-up shop in London provided us accurate props and accessories. We went to the meeting point and were directed into a huge building where the fun began! We were being smuggled off Earth, and ended up on Tatooine. We were given tasks and things to do as Galactic Explorers (barter for spices, get droid parts, etc.) but it was also just lovely wondering around and taking in the atmosphere! We bought some drinks ('droid oil', illegal and smuggled), grabbed some food and avoided roaming Jawas. We took a lesson from a real life Jedi, met Luke Skywalker's  Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and bartered for illegal spices. The actors were all perfectly on point! As the evening went on, Stormtrooper presence increased. Scuffles broke out between rebels and The Galactic Empire. After a quick drink in the Cantina, it was time to leave. We traded in our spices for a ticket on board the ship that was going to take us on board the Death Star. We were about to infiltrate!

From there, actors replayed the very end of the first movie, and we were a part of it, jeering and gasping as Obi fell to the ground, and cheering with genuine elation as a freaking live size X-Wing flew over and Luke Skywalker stepped out. The whole event was absolultely incredible, and I really can't express how immersive it really was! There were times when I really didn't know how I should react - I was torn between getting deeply into character and taking everything very seriously when the arguments broke out between the rebels and the Empire, or just laughing and smiling like an idiot and enjoying the moment! Serious props to the actors, they were all so perfect and never once broke character. Here's a nice write-up with some photos (cameras and phones weren't allowed inside) that captures it better than I can!