A Cake, a Coffee and a Film: What people love about Early Doors at the Showroom
Blog writer Josh Shepherd recently took the time to visit one of Showroom Cinema’s longest-running and most popular features: Early Doors. He chatted to regulars about what it is they like about the programme, and what made them start coming. Here’s what he found out:
Early Doors has been running at the Showroom for more than ten years now, a morning film every Thursday for over-55s to come down and enjoy a cake, a coffee and a film. The cakes on offer are all baked in house by chef Maya, and always prove tempting, and the programme contains a varied selection of recent releases. Of course, if the space permits they’ll let under 55s slip in to enjoy the earlier showing too. One of the films on offer recently was The Northman, which seemed like an interesting choice for the older crowd, and so I headed down to see whether people knew what they were getting themselves into.
Before the film I chat to Estella and Jeff. Jeff is a native Sheffielder who managed to steal Estella back home with him after they met in uni. They’d discovered Early Doors a little before the pandemic, and had been telling themselves it would be nice to get back when everything had opened up again. Admittedly not big film fans, they enjoy the experience of a day out, the early showing giving them the rest of the day. When I ask if they have anything special planned for after they tell me of an Italian restaurant they’d also discovered just before the pandemic, showing me the receipt they’d kept. I ask if they knew anything about the Northman, and Estella rather excitedly tells me she’d been curious to see it after she’d heard an interview on the radio with one of the actresses, talking about the detail of the bloody special effects make up.
I leave them to their coffee and move on to chat to Cathy and Jack, who one up Estella and Jeff by telling me they met in school. Originally from Manchester they came over to Sheffield for study, both falling in love with the city. They’ve been coming to Early Doors for a few years now, and Jack seems to have a wry sense of humour, telling me rather deadpan that he likes to call it 50 Shades of Grey, due to the sea of grey heads. Cathy also tells me she’s disappointed no one has ever asked for proof of her age. They mostly like coming down on cloudy days, but if it is sunny Cathy would rather be outside, and after motioning to the clear sky outside Jack tells me he’s in trouble for dragging her down today. He goes on to tell me how The Northman had piqued his interest when he’d heard that American right-wing groups were co-opting the movie. A former English teacher, he has an interest in symbolism and linguistics, and he tells me he wanted to see what there was to it.
Cathy and Jack decide they better head in and I buy my ticket to join them. Another appeal to the Early Door showings is the introduction, by the Early Doors resident film buff, Martin Carter. If you’ve made it down for any special screenings you’re probably well acquainted with him already, and today he succinctly summarises Robert Eggers filmography, with his penchant for what Martin dubs, ‘Art House historical films.’ It proves a nice little palette-wetter, without spoiling anything. As Martin sits down, the 15 age rating is displayed, receiving a rogue jeer from the audience. Two hours and seventeen minutes later everyone rushes out to the toilets and I try to catch up with the couples. They unanimously seem to think it went on a bit, but in their opinion it proved no bloodier than other films.
A week later I return for The Velvet Queen. A nature documentary that proves an interesting contrast to The Northman. This time I spot a familiar face across the cafe, Chris, a former art teacher of mine. She’s with her friend Carole, and they tell me they both started coming to Early Doors several years ago at what started as a way to meet up with some old friends. It quickly became a regular thing. I ask if they’d made it to the Northman last week, Chris says she had an appointment but seems to rue missing out, and Carole tells me she enjoyed it. They both agree that they like the variety on offer, seeing stuff they wouldn’t usually see. Chris even talks about seeing the Sopranos movie, Many Saints of Newark, despite not seeing the series.
I decide to leave them to it and I move over to John and his sister-in-law Kim. John says they’ve only recently started coming down to Early Doors in the last few weeks, after recently retiring, but he tells me he’s been coming to the Showroom since 2003. He even has a print of the building above his bed. The Early Doors showings work well for Kim too, who enjoys coming to the movies, but can’t get out in the afternoons. John jokes that she has to be home before her husband finds out. They tell me they recently enjoyed Phantom of the Open and The Outfit, two very different films that show another example of the variety on offer, as well as the versatility of Mark Rylance. John seems excited to keep coming down, telling me to make sure they don’t cancel it. I tell him I’ll see what I can do.
John and Kim eagerly head off to secure their seats, but before it starts I decide to push my luck and squeeze in one more chat, and I manage to corner Fiona. Fiona has been coming down to Early Doors since she moved to Sheffield five years ago. Born in West Riding, she tells me she’s always been a Yorkshire girl, and with most of her friends already being here she decided to settle in Sheffield. She’s a keen film fan and enjoys the experience of going to the cinema. Surprisingly she tells me The Velvet Queen isn’t something she’d usually go for. I ask if she saw The Northman, and she says that was more her cup of tea, but agreed with the consensus that it was a bit long. She goes on to talk about how she should have been a film editor so she could take the sheers to half the stuff that comes out, and before I can ask her if she’s a fan of Raymond Carver’s editor she tells me she really needs to get a seat. I thank her and let her head off, hoping the hour and thirty-two minutes are more palatable this week.