Brazil
One of the most extravagant of the 25 founding immersive theatre shows produced for Secret Cinema, over 25,000 people entered the world of Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' in an abandoned office block in Croydon. Audience members bought tickets without knowing which film they would be participating in, instead being enrolled as an employee of the fictional company G.O.O.D.
Using the themes dystopian bureaucracy in the film to examine bureaucratic hostility of today, G.O.O.D. was set up as a parallel of Google and Gilliam’s Ministry Of Information. G.O.O.D. became responsible for every aspect of social and financial systems across the globe finally absorbing all other companies for a better, more efficient future. The company headquarters, also the tallest building in Croydon, sat next door to the current Home Office's immigration headquarters, at a time when the UK was becoming clerically hostile for people wishing to live there.
Upon arrival at the show each rank of employee is given a different mission to carry out within the 13 story building. The audience then became subject to a massive global “re-org” that led to their being transferred to a new and totally illogical department. Hidden away on the top floor was a secret console where employees could 'delete' themselves, freeing them from the system.
Using the trust of the audience provided the opportunity for unparalleled world building, with the aim that when the film was screened at the end, that they engaged with it more wholly than they could have done before.
