Review: SECRET CINEMA: GREASE THE IMMERSIVE MOVIE MUSICAL, Battersea Park

It may be one of the most beloved musical movies of all time but are we going to be hopelessly devoted to Secret Cinema’s second stab at Grease? Is this what the one that their devoted fanbase really want (ooh ooh ooh)? 

More importantly, there is a lot riding on this latest big-budget affair, a high-risk show that could literally decide the future for both for the company and the industry itself. Can you feel those chills multiplying?

This hasn’t exactly been a vintage year for large-scale experiential works. Layered Reality’s Elvis Evolution promised an AI-powered extravaganza featuring holographic projections of the star; after a delay of over six months and several postponements, it finally opened to widespread disdain with some ticket buyers taking legal action in order to secure a refund. As a rule of thumb, when an immersive theatre show appears on BBC News, something has either gone very right or very wrong. 

The much-hyped Storehouse was meant to be an exploration of disinformation but ended up being the epitome of disappointment; in a neat feat, it somehow managed to be both an epic enterprise and an epic failure. Throughout the year, there has been a steady infestation of so-so IP-based efforts including productions based on Minecraft, Squid Games, Knives Out and Titanic. Even Punchdrunk, the biggest of them all, itself remains in a financially precarious state. Immersive theatre has never needed a win as much it does now.

Secret Cinema is also on the precipice. The pandemic led to the cancellation of their well-developed project “Pirates of the Caribbean - The Spirit of the Sea”, intended as a prequel to the Johnny Depp-starring blockbusters. They haven’t had a major London event since Guardians Of The Galaxy in 2022 (many of their fans consider Wishmas an aberration to be ignored), the same year that the company was bought by TodayTix. 

In January 2024, Secret Cinema gained permission from Camden council to use a bingo hall as a permanent venue; by July that year, that idea had been abandoned. The announcement that they planned to bring back Grease - the basis for their Birmingham show in 2023 - was met with disapproval from a highly loyal fanbase that were looking for fresh ideas from the immersive giants. After so many false starts and a sense of rebellion among their supporters, can TodayTix and its high-profile acquisition turn things around?

Set in a large space in the middle of Battersea Park, initial impressions as we wander through a colourful fairground aren’t promising. Grease may be the word for all the cosplaying T-Birds and Pink Ladies swanning around but the word that most comes to mind is money. Wherever we look,  we are immediately immersed in commerce. Sure, there’s no doubt that this huge production cost a seven-figure sum to put together but the blatant sponsor presence from Heinz, Nice wine, Altos Tequila et al would put a Bond film to shame. 

Having said that, everything is forgiven once, after an hour of milling around outside, we finally get inside the “Rydell High” building. A truly staggering amount of effort and imagination has been put into creating this vast space.

The seating areas are all exquisitely designed. Frosty Palace has blue-and-white striped booths mimicking the diner where Danny (Liam Morris), Rizzo (Lucy Penrose), and their respective crews hang out while, along the back wall, the tables in the Drive-In section have round lights on the front giving the impression of hundreds of cars looking out onto the stage. A lively band takes up another side of the room and throughout the evening pump out Fifties-styled melodies and all the classic songs.

Compared to the usual agenda for previous Secret Cinema outings, director Matt Costain has flipped the script. Normally, guests are invited to wander the detailed environment and solve a series of frankly pointless mini-quests before sitting down to watch the film. This time around, everything happens in parallel. Screens above the audience either play back the original film in colour or show live video in black-and-white from around the venue. Meanwhile, between set pieces, actors saunter around the venue to gossip and flirt with whomever is in earshot. While before the onus was on you to seek out character moments, now they come to you wherever you happen to be.

The main staging itself is more than a little reminiscent of Nicholas Hytner’s Guys And Dolls and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bridge Theatre. Bang in the middle of the hall, a rectangular central platform serves as the gym and dancefloor around which punters can walk, talk and watch the story unfold. More Hytner-like touches appear later: Sandy (Stephanie Costi) and the Pink Ladies cut through the crowd aboard a moving platform for the sleepover and later the audience are invited on stage to take part in a frenetic and fabulously fun dance competition.

The bigger set pieces are simply phenomenal in small part due to choreography (Jennifer Weber), lighting (Howard Hudson), sound (Gareth Fry) and video (Ian William Galloway) that wouldn’t be out of place in a West End theatre. Susan Kulkarni and Martina Trottmann’s costumes are lush and evocative and Tom Roger’s design perfectly captures the Fifties vibe.

There are memorable episodes aplenty. Watching the T-Birds’ prized car coming together during “Greased Lightnin’” is only topped by seeing it return for the climactic race. At one point, Danny floats out above the Drive-In sitting on a trapeze while the ceiling is turned pitch black and dotted with a constellation of stars. Smaller moments also stick out for all the right reasons: accompanied on the huge platform only by a solo sax player, Penrose cuts a pensive figure when she beautifully sings "There Are Worse Things I Could Do". Although the acting is often less than convincing, the singing and dancing are a pure treat.

Even outside these major show points, there’s always a sense of something happening somewhere in the room whether it is a conga line around the stage, Twinkies being handed out during the sleepover or Johnny Casino quizzing us on whether we’ve seen Vic Fontaine around. If stepping up to the stage to do the mashed potato is not your thing, there’s always the Ferris Wheel or Chair-o-Planes to ride on outside. 

It’s not a perfect show but this brave move away from their standard format has seen them almost completely change the way they delivered Grease in Birmingham. The organisation is still shaky in places, the direction could be tighter (especially during the film’s less enticing scenes) and £7.50 for a 330ml can of lager seems a bit steep even in London, but these are minor quibbles given the sheer complexity of this undertaking. 

Those who enjoy audience participation will probably enjoy this the most; to paraphrase the late Tom Lehrer, Grease is like a sewer: what you get out of it rather depends on what you put into it. This is overall as good a showcase of new immersive theatre as we’ll see this year. Secret Cinema has changed the formula - something that may disappoint more than a few of their long-term fans - but under Costain’s inspired imagination, they are back to their magnificent best. 

Grease The Immersive Movie Musical continues at Battersea Park until 7 September.