Book, Music and Lyrics: Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Director: Matt Costain
The best things about Secret Cinema’s take on the iconic film, Grease, are the brazenly strong cocktails. Which is just as well, as you might need them to get through the night, as this “immersive” show is as immersive as being stuck in an airport terminal when all flights have been cancelled.
Inside the performance space, itself a building very much like an aeroplane hangar, are bars and eateries and posh seats for those who are willing to pay extra for a VIP experience. For the rest of us, the economy passengers, we have to stand around wondering which part of the colossal arena will host the next song. It takes almost 30 minutes for Summer Nights to emerge, way up in a corner, miles away from the VIP seating.
On the screens dotted around the space like departure boards, the original 1978 film plays, mostly silently, while the cast speak the lines and the house band plays the music. Some of the characters’ conversations take place on the enormous raised stage, but with no lights to guide us, often these interactions are lost to most of the audience, many dressed as Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Some scenes are played directly to one bank of VIP punters, sitting cutely in cars like a drive-in. Other scenes are filmed live and projected on screens, but not all, making the experience bitty and chaotic.
If you’re unlucky, you may be approached by one of the cast members for a chat about your grades at Rydell High right at the moment when Sandy (Stephanie Costi) hits the high notes of Hopelessly Devoted To You. You may want to get closer to watch the set piece of Greased Lightnin’, but be careful not to trample on the people, unable to find adequate seating, sitting on the floor, eating burgers and hot-dogs as the show continues.
Some VIP guests pay even more to get up on stage with the cast, cheerleading or dancing, but these “immersive” actions only add to the confusion. A few people seek the quiet of the 1950s funfair erected outside the hangar. Of course, there’s money to be paid here, too, but at least there’s fun in Hook-A-Duck or going on the Ferris Wheel.
Like many large-scale immersive shows, the main aim appears to be making a profit. You’ll be better off watching the film at home. This Grease certainly isn’t the word. You’re literally, like Danny, stranded at the drive-in.
Runs until 7 September 2025
