There’s no secret about what’s happening in Battersea Park: the signs are quite literally there at the entrance, welcoming you to Rydell High School. You can even spot the real-life ferris wheel that hints at the fairground finale to come. Grease isn’t the first musical to be given Secret Cinema’s signature immersive treatment – there was a Moulin Rouge in 2017 – but it is the most ambitious, with a live cast performing all of its memorable numbers in what is essentially a hybrid show.
The original movie plays on overhead screens, with occasional footage intercut from a black-and-white stage feed, and a (fabulous) band provides the live soundtrack. It takes a chaotic quarter-hour to get your head around what you’re watching. The actors aren’t lip-syncing their lines, so if you’re following the screen it looks like clunky dubbing. The dialogue regularly gets lost behind the music: perhaps the sound mix will get better over the course of the run. Perhaps it’s not important – this is, ultimately, a full-costume karaoke night, the chance for folk to belt out Hopelessly Devoted to You and Greased Lightnin’ without any fear of being removed by an usher.
