Everyman Cinema Horsham

I really enjoy going to the cinema but it is something I find incredibly difficult since becoming ill so my visits are few and far between. However, after a restful couple of weeks, I fancied trying out the new Everyman Cinema in Horsham. I had been to one a few years ago and was desperate to go to one closer to home! Luckily for me, there was something on at the cinema I wanted to see which coincided with being well enough so Mum and I booked tickets the day before and headed off to see the new Downton Abbey film.

Accessibility

The cinema is located in a pedestrianised Square and accessed through large glass doors. These are not overly disabled friendly as they are very heavy and require someone to help you open the doors if you’re in a wheelchair or not very strong. There does not appear to be an electronic mechanism for the door or a way to notify staff you are there if you are alone and cannot open the doors yourself. Once inside you enter into a small smart vestibule with a staircase and a lift that takes you up to the main floor of the cinema.

You pick up your tickets and order your refreshments from the bar. The whole set up of the place is designed to be more like a restaurant/bar than a cinema foyer, which gives it an exclusive, fun atmosphere. However, there is no wheelchair-accessible counter so you have to strain your neck to talk to the staff if you are in a wheelchair.

The disabled loo is large, clean and smart. It is located to the right of the bar which is the opposite side of the building to the cinema screens. It is important to note that these are the only lavatories, so it is advisable to use them before going up in the second lift and going to your screen.

You access the cinema screens in a second smaller disabled lift, which fits a large wheelchair and another person. There are three screens and all are accessible and have wheelchair specific seating. The seating along the top row, as you enter the screen, has step-free access and is located at the top of the cinema steps so your disabled seating always gets fantastic views, whether you stay in your wheelchair or transfer out of it onto the sofas.  If you are able to do a few steps, and want to access other seats in the cinema, the steps are wide and shallow. The staff are very helpful and guide you to your seat. They will safely stowaway your wheelchair if you transfer out of it. It is also brilliant that the staff will bring any food and drink you order when picking up your tickets to your seat during the film adverts, meaning you do not have to balance anything on your lap while in your wheelchair.

Score: 7/10 - pretty good but have not thought out disability needs fully
Why: The main doors into the cinema were not very accessible, there was no wheelchair-friendly ticket desk and the disabled loos were not close to the cinema screens at all. There is detailed access information online. There are, however, lots of staff to help you if you need it once in the building.

Booking Tickets

While you can book non-transferable wheelchair tickets online you cannot take advantage of your carer getting in for free if you have a CEA card online. Everyman, unlike other big cinema chains, do not have a mechanism to put in your CEA number to buy your disabled tickets online. This is incredibly frustrating when you know it can be done on other websites. They direct you to call a customer service line 01233 504815 if you want disabled tickets (unlike their normal booking line they do not charge you extortionate rates to call up to buy disabled tickets). The operators are very friendly and helpful.  They will help you choose appropriate seats and take down your name, email address and CEA card number. You cannot pay over the phone but they will block the tickets off for you. When you get to the cinema itself, when picking up your tickets, make sure you say that you have a CEA card and show it to them or they will try and charge you full price for both tickets. They may have to ask a manager to come over and help them. The only advantage of this way is that you do not have to pay the booking fee which you would usually have to do if you book online or call up to buy tickets without a CEA card.

Score: 4/10 - I expect better
Why: When there are the cinemas that can provide an online booking service for disabled patrons, it is incredibly annoying and time-consuming not being able to go online and just book the tickets yourself, especially if you have to wait for somebody to help you make the phone call. All the points I allocated them really come for the fact that they are helpful on the phone and that you do not have to pay to use a premium telephone line or pay a ticket booking fee.

Food

The menu is small but features cinema favourites such as popcorn but also cooked meals, which can be served to your seat during the pre-film adverts. We both went for the burgers and they were easily accommodating to both of our allergies. My mum was able to swap out the chips for sweet potato and I was served a bunless patty with chips, a salad and guacamole. My burger and chips were coeliac safe and although all dairy-free, the chips had a risk of cross-contamination with dairy (that's a new one on me). Thankfully I can cope with possible traces of milk but something to watch out for if your dairy allergy is as bad as my gluten allergy! Mum was also able to indulge in a glass of wince and I was able to have a fresh mint tea served to my seat. The hot drink came with a mini Green & Blacks chocolate bar which I had to give over to my mum, but it was a nice touch rather than having to buy great big bags of normal cinema confectionary to satisfy the sweet tooth. 

Mint tea & chocolate bar on my side table

I had emailed the cinema previously to find out about their allergy policies and they kindly emailed me back with all the gluten-free options which I have included below, but please check when you are ordering to prevent the risk of cross-contamination etc. I wasn't sure how I would enjoy having a full meal in the cinema but it worked really well. I also thought the value for money was quite good and a burger and chips were about the same price as a lot of burger restaurants.

Score: 9/10 - Pretty darn good
Why: It would be very easy for the cinema to stock gluten-free burger buns and no restaurant has ever told me I cannot have the chips because they made have a risk of dairy traces, but I am very pleased they were suitable for coeliacs. Also, as I had highlighted I was dairy-free, a dairy-free Green & Blacks mini bar would have been thoughtful and not that hard to make available.

Email response to Gluten-Free Options

My Actual Experience

Everyman is always going to be my first choice for a cinema experience. The sofas and armchairs are supremely comfortable. The cinemas are intimate and have the feel of a private luxury club. The tickets were a similar price as what you pay for the Odeon in Guildford, so value for money is great. The in-cinema food really enhanced my trip out as a chronically ill patron as it meant I could enjoy a meal out and a film. I loved the intimate feel of the cinema. The staff had great customer service skills. I also enjoyed the buzz of the cinema when leaving in the evening. The bar area and outside terrace was full of people enjoying cocktails and food either before or after a film and even people just enjoying the place without seeing a film at all. The cinema was clean, comfortable and a much lovelier experience than I've had before at regular cinema chains in the UK.

Score: 8/10 - Great
Why: It will be my first choice of cinema due to all of the positives. If they could improve the booking experience for disabled patrons and tweak the allergen options that would make the experience fantastic. The position of the lavatories is not ideal but I'm not sure the layout could really be changed to accommodate a second disabled loo. They should have consulted disabled patrons before designing the cinema, but it is very rare that any commercial ventures actually consult a disabled person. They desperately need to improve the access to the building to make the entrance doors disabled accessible, because if you cannot get in then the rest of the access inside is a bit redundant.

A review of Sanditon: My Thoughts on The Acting and Production

If you were to ask me what my all-time favourite TV series is I would not even need to think about it. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is Andrew Davies' 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I can watch it over and over again because the acting and production is just so fantastic. So, when I heard last March, that Andrew Davies' latest adaptation of an Austen story was being filmed, I could not wait to see what was in store.

Okay, confession time, I am a Jane Austen fan but I never knew about Sanditon. I had no idea it was an unfinished novel of Austen's. I could not even tell you what it was about until it lit up my TV screens recently. I did not want to research it before I watched it as this was a unique opportunity to watch an Austen drama without knowing the plot. I had no doubt it would be good. Davies always creates wonderful TV and when it comes to Austen he is the master. I would like to think that if Jane Austen had been reincarnated it would be as another woman, but sometimes I wonder has Austen come to life again as Andrew Davies? Of course I jest, but he seems to know her mind inside and out!

Most of Austen's novels are not named after where they are set, but this one is. Sanditon is the name the of the seaside resort, that we are introduced to through the eyes of our heroine Miss Charlotte Heywood. The screenplay has been produced so that Sanditon becomes a character in itself. We get to know Sanditon through our main female protagonist. She is plucked from her humble farm life by an enthusiastic Mr Tom Parker, the visionary behind turning Sanditon into a fabulous, glamorous and well-to-do destination resort. Tom Parker is wonderfully embodied by Kris Marshall who brings delight and passion to his character while showing an underbelly of insecurity. Marshall's comic timing, with the character's whimsy and wonder, allows the viewer to experience his passion and feel his failings. Tom Parker's likeability allows the audience to believe that Miss Heywood's parents could allow her to go off with strangers to a new place. However, in contradiction to the time period or other Austen novels, there is no intention that she should find herself a husband in Sanditon, but her father leaves her with a few words of caution about her destination. Quite rightly so, as maybe she is too innocent to see the dangers for herself, but her self-confidence, however, gives her a strength to not fall foul to all the manipulation that may be at play. Like Heywood, we as the viewer, have never come across an Austen town quite like this. The characters are edgy and there is more grit than we are used to. Austen always has undertones but this is a little closer to the mark and yet does not seem out of place. The seaside brings a bit of wildness and a little less formality that gives the characters more chance to break from societal demands. Through the setting, in particular, we can see our female characters have more to them then just relying on marriage to secure their futures.

There are many characters in this story and produced badly it could become too fragmented. Luckily this is not the case, Charlotte Heywood may be the lynchpin to the story, but we do care enough about other characters predicaments to indulge in their storylines that become separate from our heroine, which is something that is not often present in Austen's work. In her writing, usually, the main female and her male romantic interest are fully formed people with multiple characteristics and everybody else around them presenting as rather two dimensional. This is simply not the case in this Austen adaptation. It is the complexity of many of the characters in Sanditon that makes it feel more like an ensemble piece.

Quote from Radio Times Interview

Nevertheless Rose Williams, who plays Charlotte, brightly shines among her eminent colleagues. Williams is not new to our screens but will be unheard of to many of the audience. She is acting with some very experienced actors so could easily be overshone by them. However, she embodies her character to the core. No matter how much you are drawn into the other storylines, as soon as she is back on the screen you just want to follow her story. Miss Heywood is a young woman with little experience of anything outside of rural life. It would be easy for an actress to play this character as though she were just a naive girl, with wide eyes making ignorant remarks, but I do not think we can attribute these qualities to her. Williams manages to show us Charlotte's innocence alongside a certainty of knowing who she is and claiming her independence. She is intelligent and although she lacks experience of the world around her, she is not afraid to learn. She always owns her opinions, and mistakes, no matter who or what she comes up against. She is very quick to set the record straight that is not in want of a husband and we, as the audience, fully believe her and move on to examine her other qualities and the intrigue into where her story might lead. Of course, she is confronted with the inevitable rich, handsome gentleman, Mr Sidney Parker, who cannot help but try to make her feel small. However, like Bennett and Darcey in Pride and Prejudice, they are inexplicably drawn to one another. Parker and Heywood's interactions are compelling and leave us desperate to see them together more.

 They are drawn together like a magnet. Sidney is performed by Theo James who gives a stellar performance as the arrogant and mysterious gentleman who challenges Charlotte. It would be easy for his character to just be seen as rude and demeaning, however, we also see that perhaps there is another side to him. While James cleverly portrays the character's rudeness though his tone and manner towards his co-star’s character, his eyes tell us a different story. James invites the audience in to see that there is something deeper going on for his character. Through his eyes we can see a conflict between what he is saying and what his true emotions are, perhaps alluding to something in his past that is informing his present in a way he wishes it would not. James' subtle contradiction between his words and his inner thoughts clearly shows his complexity of feelings and hints to us that Sidney and Charlotte may become more than just two people who irritate each other? The question is, do we want the predictable romance to happen between the characters? Charlotte has no pressure to marry and we are presented with another possible love interest for her. Unlike other Austen novels, the second suitor Young Stringer is brilliantly, earnestly and honestly played by Leo Suter, is not absurd or horrific but a lovely and ambitious man who is closer to Charlotte in station. In some episodes, I could not decide which male actor would make the best romantic partner for her as Suter's portrayal of his characters heart on sleeve feelings for Charlotte were glorious to watch. Charlotte's lightness, kindness, outspokenness and intelligence are definitely a draw to both men in different ways. She compliments one and challenges another. Or, perhaps, as the feminist in me would like, she will end up with neither?

The cast as a whole really do excel and are very generous actors. By which I mean, they play their characters in earnest, even our more comedic and evil characters add to the charm of Sanditon beautifully. The step-brother and sister duo played by Jack Fox and Charlotte Spencer reminds me of the siblings Mary and Henry Crawford in Mansfield Park. Both of these sets are evil, shallow, manipulative but beautiful and charming. However, Davies has developed the Denham duo to become deeper than initial impressions. Fox and Spencer leap on this scripting opportunity and ask the audience to see a different side to them. Despite their manipulations, especially Esther Denham, their depth of character starts to unravel. Spencer brings a sense of sadness and desperation to her character. The director uses this to lead the audience away from the stereotypical evil nature we expect to see within this story format. It is safe to say that Spencer gives fantastic characterisation for others to bounce off in this production, but so do the rest of the cast. They all give a lot to their fellow actors allowing Sanditon to really dazzle as a period drama. No one person steals the show completely. It is well cast. However, I would be remiss not to mention Rose Williams one more time. Her characterisation of Miss Heywood is the key to us enjoying and engaging with this story. Played too naive, we would find her irritating and unable to see the other characters in their true lights. Her manner and brilliant facial expressions reflect her confusion at the responses and situations thrown at her, allow the viewer to care and fully engage in the story. Williams masterly combines Charlotte's inner conflict of natural confidence versus her inexperience of the wider world, to give us an Austen heroine that speaks to us in the twenty-first century. She is the kind of female character we need to bee seeing more of and Rose Williams brings Austen's and Davies' words to life quite wonderfully.