Once chosen, Mendes partially rewrote his script to feature it in all its glory, but the production team had their work cut out to transform it into an authentic 1980s cinema. The main auditorium, now a bingo hall, was converted into the cinema itself, the ballroom and ladies toilets were restored, and the neon light on the frontage was changed to read “Empire”. The production also made use of Dreamland’s other amusements, including the Retro Roller Room and the fun fair rides for scenes with Hilary and Stephen, but for the cinema foyer a set was built along the road in a vacant lot, taking in the lobby with full sweeping staircase and a new doorway that looked directly out onto the sea.
Micheal Ward and Olivia Colman in Empire of LightCourtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
The seafront
Besides Dreamland, the Margate seafront became the backdrop to much of the film. We see the main sands and the Nayland Rock Shelter on the Promenade, famed as the place where TS Eliot wrote a section of The Waste Land. The Sands Café and Marina Café, both on Marine Drive overlooking the beach, both also feature as locations.
All along the seafront, meanwhile, shops and stalls were redressed to match the period, complete with time-specific billboards and posters, and lights were strung along the Promenade to light the night scenes. The town was also treated to an unseasonal fake snowfall and a firework display over the bay, witnessed by Hilary and Stephen from the upper level of the Empire.
Olivia Colman in Empire of LightCourtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
The Old Town
Lying behind The Parade and the seafront, Margate’s historic neighbourhood also played its part. The Mayor’s Parlour, a municipal building housed in the former Town Hall on Market Street, became a doctor’s office. Café Darcy on Marine Gardens was converted into a chemist while Wildes, a bar and restaurant on Market Place, played itself.
Cliftonville
This neighbourhood to the east of the town, now a centre of Margate’s revival, is where we find Hilary’s flat, and we see her around Ethelbert Terrace and Cliff Terrace, as well as passing the Winter Gardens, another legacy of the Victorian era. Stephen’s flat, by contrast, is in Arlington House, to the west of Dreamland, a Brutalist apartment block built in the mid-Sixties.
