The Super Secret Secret Theatre

First, a word of warning. This review is about a Secret Theatre production. The entire premise is that it’s secret. So please bear with me: I’m being cryptic for a reason, I’m not just trying to be a ponce. Before coming to London, the Secret Theatre performed in New York, where they had been asked to produce a theatre adaptation of Edward Scissorhands, and Los Angeles, where they showed The Dairy of a Sociopathic Freakazoid. Because of the secret nature of their performances they are run for a short time in a single city – and this time it’s London’s turn. The Secret Theatre experience differs from most other theatrical experiences: you buy your ticket without even knowing what the performance will be about, other than it’s based on one of Quentin Tarantino’s great works. Then you get The Email: the dress code, the alias, the location. Next, there’s the excitement of turning up in front of a warehouse, down a side alley, and hanging around trying to work out what’s going on - are those audience or actors? Is this lady being naturally friendly or has the performance already started? It’s exciting, it’s different, it’s mysterious. Having keyed up the audience to such a state of anticipation, it is a bit of a downer when the play turns out to be the traditional set up of audience sitting in front of the stage. Throughout the play there’s the feeling you might be called upon at any time, mainly because of the extraordinary proximity you have to the actors. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, but is an aspect of the production that never really develops, and does slightly dampen the thrill of the experience. So there you are, sitting in a small room, half a meter from the actors in front of you, as a theatrical version of a Tarantino film unfolds in front of you. If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve seen his most well-known films before going to this, as you will lose out if you haven’t. My true praise for the Secret Theatre is not for their secrecy but for their production levels: the story develops in front of you with a breathtaking sense of reality. Half scared, half feeling you should intervene, you sit watching violence and pain that you completely believe in. Unlike the cinema, such close proximity theatre dispenses with elaborate props and gushes of fake blood and relies entirely on the actors’ talents. This production was almost dogmatically faithful to the film it was adapting – some scenes were so similar that they were word for word reproductions of film scenes – and yet it was fantastic. It was fantastic because it made a film come alive under your eyes, at an arm’s reach from you. Whether film or theatre, it achieved what all productions try to achieve: a sense of reality, of having been there, of it actually having happened.

Secret Theatre London is being performed until 30th November at a secret London Zone 1 location, tickets available at secrettheatrelondon.com for £18.