Secret Cinema cleared to open

The event specialist was forced to cancel last Thursday’s opening event in the London borough of Croydon just an hour before launch due to “licensing reasons”.

The weekend’s remaining screenings were also canned as organisers worked to resolve the issue.

Anxious ticket holders were finally told this afternoon [May 2] that the event would go ahead from this evening but without the sale of alcohol.

It will be licensed to serve alcohol from May 9.

In an email to ticket holders, Secret Cinema said: “We are pleased to announce that the issues delaying the opening of Secret Cinema 020 have been resolved.

“Due to the conditions of our licences we will be running this weekend’s performances without the sale of alcohol. For clarity, the issues we have been facing over the last couple of weeks have not been limited to the sale of alcohol.”

Addressing a lack of information throughout the week, the email added: “We would like to thank you for your incredible patience over the last few days, as we haven’t always been able to update you as soon as we would have liked.”

When last weekend’s screenings were cancelled, Secret Cinema held an alternative showing of Footloose at the Troxy in Stepney on Saturday.

This latest event marks the launch of the 20^th Secret Cinema production, which has recently included a screenings of The Shawshank Redemption and Prometheus.

As with many Secret Cinema events, it included theatre and roleplay ahead of the screening of a film that is kept a closely guarded secret.

The latest production will now run Thursday to Sunday every weekend until June 9.