Romeo & Juliet; Backyard Cinema Review

I recently attended the evening screening of Romeo & Juliet, hosted by Backyard Cinema. It’s a cinema experience with a twist in that, the venue was an actual church called Union Chapel in Highbury & Islington. I also knew that Some Voices choir would be performing and was very excited after watching a short clip of them singing!

Before going, I did some research and both reviews and the website recommended bringing your own cushions due to the hard church pew seating. Our ticket also mentioned that though the film started at 8pm, the doors would open at 6.30pm and last entry being 7.15pm. They recommended people arriving early as seats are unallocated. Armed with two old, trusty cushions, we headed off to Union Chapel.

Here are the PROs and CONs from the event:

PROs:

+ The film you are likely to enjoy because you choose what you watch.

+ The staff and security especially were friendly.

+ You can purchase drinks and snacks, which you can take back to your seat.

+ The choir ‘Some Voices’ were absolutely bloody amazing, and coupled with the good acoustics of the church, the sound was fantastic. Several times I got goosebumps and at one point a lump in my throat when they sang their rendition of ‘When Doves Cry’.

CONs:

- The sound quality was quite poor at times, and with Shakespearean language, it’s already a mind boggle.

- The seating was the worst. After almost 4 hours of sitting down on a hard wooden seat, my bum was beyond numb! Since you cannot stretch your legs either, my legs were also very stiff when leaving the place.

- The church can be a bit chilly, so bring a jacket! I understand that for winter screenings, they provide blankets although you could always bring your own!

- You cannot take back your alcoholic drink to your seat as it is an active church. You can finish your drink at the bar and then sit back down. This I found to be ironic because if it’s an issue, they shouldn’t have a bar in the church full stop.

- Some Voices performed a few songs before and one song after the film. There was an actor with monologue in between and though he was talented, I wish that time was given to the choir instead. I would have loved to have seen more songs performed.

- Though the ticket mentioned last entry would be at 7.15pm, people were still entering and changing seats literally until 7.50pm (just before the film began). This annoyed me because if I had know that “last entry” wasn’t really last entry, then I wouldn’t have rushed to arrive at the venue for 6.30pm.

- Since the seating is in the form of church pews, once you’re in and in the middle seating, unless you want to inconvenience an entire row, you end up staying seated. There is very little legroom therefore if you wanted to grab some snacks, or go to the toilet, it would mean people having to stand to let you get through.

Final Thoughts

Though the venue was a hit and miss, we would like to experience another Backyard Cinema adventure in a different venue. I have booked tickets to see Aladdin in September for their Winter Night Garden experience, and I will most certainly be reviewing again.

Until next time xo

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All images on this post are my own.