For an American, attending one of Secret Cinema’s famous London-based film-screening-and-immersive-show hybrids already implies an international mission. And when said mission involves a James Bond film, you can bet I’m jumping on that assignment. I’m about as big a 007 fan as a human being can be: once we get through my thoughts on all 24 films in the franchise, I could still bore you for hours with details about which actors almost played Bond, and which of them might have been pretty great (Sam Neill) or pretty regrettable (Burt Reynolds). And the first immersive show I created, Safehouse ’77, is a testament to not just my spy-film obsessions but also my intense desire to see that genre transferred to an immersive setting. Thus, hearing that Secret Cinema was going to take on Casino Royale, my favorite Bond film of them all, made me excited and giddy in ways very unbecoming of a good secret agent.
When I saw Secret Cinema’s Moulin Rouge installation in 2017, I was enthralled, genuinely moved, and deeply impressed by the company’s incredible attention to detail. But Moulin Rouge is merely in the category of movies I quite enjoy, whereas Casino Royale is one that I’ve seen, conservatively, dozens of times. The first time I saw the film was on a date, and my companion made fun of me for rushing off to the bathroom to clean my glasses beforehand so I could catch every detail. So in the spirit of nostalgia, I tracked her down to see if she’d be willing to accompany me to the Secret Cinema version. Before you accuse me of being weird for doing something like this, please understand that: a) I’ve already said this is one of my favorite films of all time; and b) I’ve been married to this person for over nine years, so “tracking her down” wasn’t especially difficult and — fine, enough smalltalk, let’s get started here.
Secret Cinema’s impressive world-building begins soon after you’ve purchased your ticket. The emails, web sites, and online shops the company creates to prepare you for your in-person experience (and raise some much-deserved extra revenue) are gorgeous, intriguing, and just as fully realized as a permanent installation for a corporate brand. In fact, the actual 007 films (whose associated web sites have ranged from so-so to downright sad) could take a few cues from Secret Cinema’s slick and effective agent-initiation portal for Casino Royale. A brief survey of your capabilities and preferences leads to a specific assignment, as well as a designated alias and instructions on what to wear and whom to seek out upon arrival.
I ended up in the elite “Control” division, with orders to rub elbows with the wealthiest of the wealthy at the Casino, and I was given a flashy cover job — media mogul — that would justify my admission to all the velvet-roped areas. I was also asked to wear something gold so my handler could easily spot me. (I will admit here that the Moulin Rouge experience had a similar level of pre-show setup that really didn’t pay off in the actual production (unless, perhaps, you were a hardcore LARPer, which I decidedly am not); but rest assured that everything in your MI6 briefing is fully germane to the Casino Royale adventure, up to and including the recommendation to create business cards for your character, which I now wish I’d done.)
By the time you arrive at the actually-secret meet-up location, the excitement is palpable. You’re well outside the heart of London, surrounded by other costumed audience members who have equally little idea what we’re all in for. Strategically positioned crew members lead you on your way, phones are rendered temporarily unusable (except in designated out-of-show areas), and you enter the venue according to your ticket type — but not before being greeted by a handler who briefs you on your specific mission for the evening. The assignment for our “Control” division was to locate a person of interest by questioning others about her whereabouts and possibly acquiring a helpful piece of evidence. Once inside the vast space, the number of people and choices can be overwhelming, so having a clear directive is very helpful in narrowing your focus.
Sticking to my mission and being observant did lead to some satisfying payoffs early on, one of which came when I was speaking to an in-world poker player and realized she was holding something I desperately needed, if only I could find a way to smoothly take possession of it. Even the relatively simple task of tracking down an Italian socialite in Venice, and subsequently trying to get her attention while she was surrounded by adoring hangers-on, was a great bit of fun that made me feel like a true international operative. Whether these individual thrills added up to a complete narrative is something I’ll get into later, but it’s still very much worth it to strive to be a good agent.
Not unexpectedly, this experience will play very differently to those familiar with the Casino Royale film than it does to newbies or those who haven’t seen it since its 2006 release. If you know it as embarrassingly well as I do, you’ll relish all the small details that either echo the world of the film or fill out its backstory. Secret Cinema’s casting is just as spot-on here as it was in Moulin Rouge, with actors who closely resemble their cinematic counterparts in appearance as well as performance. (The woman portraying Valenka, Le Chiffre’s girlfriend, deserves special recognition for her lip-pursing.)
As excited as I was to carry out my mission duties, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to observe scenes between characters who appear only briefly in the actual movie but get meaty roles in the immersive show. There’s a clear mixture of script and improv in each of these vignettes, with some ad-libbed humor that generates laughs without derailing the delicious moments of drama and intrigue. I ended up in a few different encounters with Le Chiffre, the supervillain himself, and enjoyed watching him deliver some sarcastic put-downs to various audience members (including me).
Whether you’re diligently pursuing your mission directives, following characters Sleep No More-style, or just exploring for the hell of it, the physical environment of Casino Royale is utterly mind-blowing. As with Moulin Rouge, Secret Cinema’s production designers have pulled off a Disney-level attention to detail, ensuring that every hallway and doorway will lead to another gorgeously realized location that evokes a specific scene from the film. I don’t want to give too much away here, but for goodness’ sake, they built an actual working luggage carousel for the in-world airport. The globetrotting nature of a James Bond film translates to a little bit of real-world strangeness — Madagascar, Venice, and Miami are all within steps of each other — but that cognitive dissonance is a small price to pay for the delight of rapid country-hopping. Plus, each area has at least one bar, so just like 007 himself, you can literally drink your way across the world.
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Every good spy film has a ticking clock, and in the case of Casino Royale (and any other Secret Cinema production) that clock is very real, since at some point the interactive adventuring has to give way to the actual film screening. And this is where, at least to me, it feels like Secret Cinema is still getting its sea legs. With Moulin Rouge, the pre-movie period felt like a chance to wander through Montmarte and absorb the atmosphere, but in Casino Royale the company is clearly intending the audience to have a more conventional immersive experience during this time. In some ways, this structure works beautifully, even with the overwhelming number of guests traversing the grounds. During the roughly two-hour span between entry and screening, I had the chance to play high-stakes poker, deliver secret messages, and participate in a clandestine meeting or two. Not only was each of these encounters delicious and enjoyable in its own right, but the feeling of actually being on an international mission (actually more than one) with a series of objectives was genuinely exhilarating.
The downside, though, was that I couldn’t help being disappointed when I realized that neither of my story arcs was going to resolve in any meaningful way by the time the film screening began. I’m not sure what I did wrong, or whether I was trying to pursue too many plot threads at once, but I spent a good half-hour searching for a character who proved impossible to find, and I had to give up my search when the “herd everyone toward the theater” process finally began. At that point I also realized that I’d missed some important scenes related to the initial mission I’d been assigned to (which, again, may have been my own fault). So all in all, the climactic scene of the immersive experience — which certainly showcases Secret Cinema’s enviable budget — felt more like an impressive standalone moment than the culmination of my individual journey as an operative.
If the goal was simply to deliver some cool spy-type experiences to viscerally prepare the audience for the film, then I’d say mission accomplished, 110%. Walking into a swanky lounge, ordering a martini, and scanning the room for targets feels just as cool as it sounds, especially given the absolutely spot-on set design. I’m just left wondering what I could have done differently to end up with a complete and satisfying story. I’ve had that feeling after both of my visits to Sleep No More, but Punchdrunk is very open about fully putting the onus on audience members to construct a narrative (or not).
Casino Royale, on the other hand, truly felt like it had the potential (and intention) to strike the perfect balance between guidance and free exploration, such that guests could feel like they experienced a complete story that belonged to them. And to be clear, Secret Cinema deserves a ridiculous amount of credit for even coming close to pulling that off, given the vastness of audience and space, not to mention stage management logistics that I couldn’t begin to wrap my puny mind around. But experiencing all that great set-up, only to miss out on the final encounters that could have tied everything together, does sting a little bit. Still, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it all again in a heartbeat.
So now we come to the actual movie. Part of what makes Secret Cinema’s installations so memorable is the work they do to “enhance” the actual screening with the addition of live actors, lighting effects, and all sorts of other delights. In this regard, Moulin Rouge had set a ridiculously high bar, as perfectly costumed and choreographed dancers burst onto stage during every big musical number to replicate the on-screen revelry as bubbly courtesans circulated through the audience to compliment our outfits and a Nicole Kidman-lookalike actually dropped out of the goddamn ceiling in a cascade of sparkling confetti during “Sparkling Diamonds.”
Moulin Rouge is exactly the kind of film that lends itself to this kind of treatment. It’s already spilling off the screen from the opening frames, bombastic and anachronistic and self-aware, a cinematic explosion of rainbow cotton candy. Casino Royale is… quite different. It’s a taut spy-thriller that’s built on an expertly calibrated combination of budget-busting action scenes and quiet, intense character moments. And if it’s hard to imagine either of those elements translating smoothly to a movie-plus-stage-show setting, then I’m not sure seeing Secret Cinema’s take would do much to convince you otherwise. While there are a few fun moments to be had (and the razor-sharp syncing of on-stage action to screen action is always impressive), much of the staging can feel at best superfluous and at worst like an unnecessary distraction. Does it make sense to have a group of actors playing poker on-stage while their cinematic counterparts are doing the same? Sure, but I don’t think it contributes anything meaningful to the drama unfolding on the big screen and I’d apply that same sentiment to most of the off-screen proceedings. (Meanwhile, I was genuinely surprised that the film’s colorful theme song/title sequence, the one element of the film which I thought would be ripest for some extravagant enhancement, was left untouched.)
Still, the relative letdown of Casino Royale’s real-time stagecraft, after such a magnificent interactive experience (and the sky-high expectations set by Moulin Rouge), is quite a high-class problem. No matter what else happened that evening, the chance to see my favorite Bond film on a giant screen with an engaged audience was always going to be an incredible treat. Secret Cinema’s loving attention to detail continues to be visible (and audible) in the quality of the presentation itself, which looks and sounds every bit as good as it would in a premium movie theater despite being housed in a temporary space.
The upshot is that Casino Royale is another jewel in Secret Cinema’s already-heavy crown, and my ability to spot a few imperfections here and there does not change the fact that this was an absolutely unforgettable evening that did glorious justice to both immersive theater and James Bond films, two of my very favorite things on Earth. While much of my love for immersive has been shaped by the medium’s capacity for intimacy — moments like my heart-to-heart in Alice’s boudoir in Then She Fell, the bald witch taking me by the hand and escorting me to the blood orgy in Sleep No More, and an extended staring contest with the Tiger in C(ovell) — it is wrong to say that this kind of intimacy “defines” immersive, or that this element should be required of any good immersive show. What makes the immersive world so great is the massive tent that encompasses it. This site covers everything from avant-garde Shakespeare productions to VR games to theme parks, and the vast range of conversations that typically happen at immersive meetups (or even just in the queue for an immersive show) are a testament to this phenomenal breadth. And this is exactly why a company like Secret Cinema can create shows that are far too big and grandiose to allow for much intimacy, yet still deliver experiences that are among the very best in the immersive world.
On a final note, I want to mention how inspiring it is to see just how big a deal Secret Cinema is in London. In Los Angeles, the very concept of immersive theatre is still something you have to walk your Lyft driver through step-by-step to explain why she’s driving you to the actual middle of nowhere, but Secret Cinema enjoys a ubiquity in London of which all us West Coast immersive creators and fans should rightly be jealous. For Moulin Rouge, multiple independent costume shops were equipped to provide attendees with bespoke outfits to match their assigned characters; this time around, when I was searching Carnaby Street for the perfect gold pocket square to accentuate my secret agent outfit (see photo!), both of the older gentlemen I spoke with in different couture shops knew exactly what Secret Cinema was and why my sartorial quest was so important. An immersive company that cares this deeply and swings for the fences every time deserves that kind of awareness, and Secret Cinema remains a huge inspiration to me as a creator. I’m grateful to them for the chance to live in another of their fantastically realized worlds and absorb a little bit more of their magic.
Go if you possibly can. And trust no one.
Secret Cinema’s Casino Royale continues through October 6. Tickets are £65 to £180.
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