Adam and my husband are huge Star Wars fans. Last summer I saw Star Wars Identities advertised. The exhibition is located in the 02 in London. At the time we didn’t know how Adam would cope with the experience. However, after many successful trips to London we decided to take him during February half term.
Star Wars Identities is an exhibition of over 200 props, costumes and models from the films. However, in true Star Wars style, the exhibition goes above and beyond being just a museum. It is an interactive experience that explores the theme of identity. It asks the question, “What forces shape you?” The exhibition follows the progression of identity from childhood to adult – origins, influences and choices. As you enter Star Wars Identities you are given a wristband. Throughout the exhibition there are ten interactive points where you use your wristband to answer questions and make decisions. These are based on species, genes, parents, culture, mentors, friends, events, occupation, personality, and values. At the end of the exhibition you get to view your unique Star Wars character.
As fancy dress is allowed, we gave Adam the choice of characters and he opted dress up as Darth Vader (light sabers are not permitted). Tickets for Star Wars Identities are allocated to time slots. Despite this we still have to wait 20 minutes beyond our allocated time. After going up two flights of escalators and obtaining our wristbands and audio devices, we entered the exhibition.
We all enjoyed different aspects of the exhibition. Adam loved seeing all of his favourite characters, spaceships and the film memorabilia. You can imagine Adams delight when he came face to face with Stormtroppers, BB8, R2D2, Boba Fett and C3P0.
I will never forget watching him as he saw Han Solo for the first time. At the top of his voice he shouted, “Wow, there is Han Solo frozen in carbonite”.
My husband enjoyed listening to the back story and trivia linked to the making of the film. There was an audio guide at certain points around the exhibition. Unfortunately, Adam couldn’t tolerate the ear piece and struggled to stand still long enough to work the device.
I enjoyed the psychosocial element of the exhibition and seeing how characters were influenced by their upbringing and choices. We did have to paraphrase the majority of the questions for Adam to understand but this didn’t seem to deter Adam from using the wristband to answer the questions.
At the end of exhibition we got to discover our Star Wars character. You scan your wristband one final time and your character is shown on a large screen. Adam was a Wookie Bounty Hunter , I was an Ewok Jedi and Dad was a Nautolan Jedi . Our character details were emailed to us and gave a comprehensive back story to our characters.
Watch our Star Wars Identities adventure condensed down to one minute:
We would highly recommend Star Wars Identities for any Star Wars fan. Despite having Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism, Adam coped well with the environment. It is very dark inside the exhibition and it became crowded in some areas. However, this was to be expected during half term holiday.
Star Wars Identities can be seen at the 02 until September 3rd 2017.
Disclaimer: We did not receive tickets to attend the exhibition and we were not asked to write this review.
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Many thanks for this review, I am planing to take my eight year old there and this was very encouraging
Perfect for eight year olds. Adam was four and was a big hit – along with my husband!