Your plans of sipping beers lakeside in Leipzig or seeing the sun rise at the Stone Circle might be dashed, but don't set fire to your bucket hat just yet. There's still plenty of fun to be had this summer.
Up to six people are now allowed inside private homes in the UK, which makes this the perfect opportunity to hone your entertaining skills. For our new series, we've spoken to experts in food, wine, music and immersive events for their advice on transforming your kitchen, living room or broom cupboard into the hottest spot in town.
Chances are you've spent a large portion of the last few months on the sofa exhausting Netflix as a way to pass the time. Whilst cinema offers a way to switch off from the world and distract your mind with something comforting, a movie night can also be a raucous celebration between friends where you disappear into another land.
Conceived as an underground immersive event company in 2007, Secret Cinema recreates the world of a film so that audiences feel they are walking through the summer camp of Dirty Dancing or sipping drinks beneath acrobatics at the Moulin Rouge. Somewhere amidst the revelry you sit down to watch the movie this kingdom has been created around, but the main draw is getting lost in this strange new world for a few hours.
"The thing that we’re missing now is congregational enjoyment of stories," says Secret Cinema CEO Max Alexander. "I keep hearing this tired old trope that the only thing that’s unique about humans is their enjoyment of stories, but the truth is we are all aching for that."
At the start of lockdown the company hosted Secret Sofa virtual events where people could dress up and watch the film from their living room. They are also about to launch a series of drive-in movies which will feature the same sense of audience interaction and chaos as their usual events.
Should you wish to commit to staying at home this summer there's plenty of ways to borrow from the events company and host a Secret Cinema-style movie night at home. A night more exciting than a DVD of Shaft and a bowl of popcorn and less intimidating than building the Death Star out of your old Amazon Prime packaging.
"The most fun bit of the Secret Cinema job is having a look at all the amazing stories and thinking which one can we render in a way that’s not just a passive viewing experience," says Alexander. "A really good example is Dirty Harry, it’s got iconic lines, it’s a tremendous thriller, you’ve got the backdrop of San Francisco, and you've got what it takes to dress up for it. You wouldn’t necessarily want to do an Arthurian legend film unless your friends have got a lot of plate mail, but with Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet you could probably do Montagues and Capulets with what you’ve got in your closet."
He believes that dressing up should be mandatory, at least to some degree. "We don’t demand a huge amount of work but you do have to be prepared at the very least to put a hat on. If it’s 19th century Paris please don’t come wearing trainers. You don’t want to turn up and be a bystander or a voyeur because if one person feels they are either too cool or too embarrassed to participate then everyone will be. You’ll just end up pressing play on the movie."
If you want to create a truly immersive world that means every element of the night should feel in step with the theme. "Every show that we do the food and drinks are all narratively entwined thoughtfully, not in a hammy way. Don’t serve a martini if it’s 18th Century France, do serve a martini if it’s early 20th Century Chicago. If you’re going to The Godfather you want to make cannoli, make your own meatballs."
By far the biggest recommendation Alexander can give if you want to get people in the mood is to follow the lead of Secret Cinema and ban people from being on the phones all night.
"We don’t take people’s phone away so they don’t share pictures." he says. "It’s because being bored is when the magic happens. This connection between people where play is permitted and you give adults permission to pretend.
"Take away everyone’s phones lock them away and don’t give them back till they leave. Take a photo at the start and a photo at the end but why not in the moment actually be in the moment."
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