Summer

This morning we were up and on a train to Earlsfield, where we got off and grabbed a coffee from the Starbucks. I was shocked to discover that the Caffe Nero, that for so long was a mainstay of my home working life the first time around, has been closed. It seems to have been caught up when the chain closed some branches last year in a finance restructuring.  Then, we walked up Garratt Lane to Capital Studios in Wandsworth which is now the home of Backyard Cinema.

We’d booked to see In the Heights, the musical film based on the stage musical of the same name. I’d said it was the only film around at the moment that would make me want to go back into a cinema. PY and I saw the musical many years ago in a temporary theatre by Kings’ Cross and it’s where I first heard work by Lin-Manuel Miranda who went on to create Hamilton and, as we’d enjoyed it so much, the film appealed.

The Backyard Cinema venue is theme LA nights.  You enter the screen via a mocked-up Miami Beach Hotel where, after checking in with reception, you’re whisked to a bar and ultimately the screening room. There’s sand, crazy cocktails (yes, even at 11am) and a lot of Instagram worthy moments. And it’s nice to sit and watch a film relaxed in a bean-bag chair sipping a drink from a glass with big yellow plastic palm leaves on the top.  I enjoyed the film a great deal: it’s quite a lot of fun. I’d also recommend seeing it in a place like the Backyard Cinema because it adds a whole new dimension to the experience.


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