Secret Cinema guests fall ‘violently ill’ after eating oysters in Newham warehouse

© Secret Cinema / Laura Little Archant

Guests at Secret Cinema, an immersive theatre and film event that is currently recreating Moulin Rouge in a Newham warehouse, have fallen violently ill after eating oysters.

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� Secret Cinema / Laura Little � Secret Cinema / Laura Little

At least 12 people who attended the Friday and Saturday performances of the show – tickets for which start at £59 and go up to £140 – have complained after falling victim to food poisoning.

Kate Sawyer said on Facebook: “My friends and I have been extremely sick following attending Friday night’s Moulin Rouge,” whilst her friend Claire Dewar said she was “violently ill” once an hour throughout Saturday night.

Secret Cinema’s lavish recreations of cult films have become landmarks in the capital’s entertainment calendar, and tickets frequently sell out.

2015’s production of Back To The Future, which was held in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and featured a real DeLorean, was marred by production problems and the opening performances were cancelled at the last minute.

The company issued a statement on their website about the initial outbreak and saying that no-one who attended the show since Saturday had been affected.

Itread: “Some of you have heard that there have been several complaints of food poisoning after eating oysters at our shows on Friday and Saturday. We have had no further customer complaints since those attending on those nights.

“We do not underestimate the discomfort of this for our customers and as such have personally followed up the small number of complaints we received.

“Since the weekend our own independent food hygiene experts have completed an extensive and thorough investigation of the situation and are entirely satisfied that the matter is resolved and the sale of oysters has been suspended. We continue to ensure that our food safety and hygiene is of the highest standard.”

A Newham Council spokesperson said: “We have had a small number of suspected food poisoning cases reported to us which our food hygiene team is working with the event organisers to investigate.”