"It's 1907 and you are Apaches": in the shoes of the Parisian Peaky Blinders, for an immersive evening

“You hate three things in life, the police, work and the bourgeois.

Tonight, we are in 1907 and you are Apaches, ”says Charles, alias the Prince of Montmartre.

Dressed to the nines, a cane in hand, the leader of the Tombeurs de la Goutte d'Or gang welcomes us to the threshold of the Grévin café (9th arrondissement) this Friday evening.

The day before, the place was snatched by force.

“The Apaches are storming the Grévin café,” reads the front page of the Petit Journal, which illustrates the drawing of a devil's fight.

Here is our

, our HQ.

And tonight is the party!

Thus begins the dive into the 1900s to which “Apache de Paris” suits us, an experience between immersive theater and role-playing, jointly offered by Gangs de Paris and Sculpteurs de rêves several evenings a week at the Grévin café, adjoining the museum of the same name which has just celebrated its 140 candles.

In front of the institution, a small patient line.

Young for many, some are in costume, cap or galurin, suspenders and a small scarf tied around the neck... Birmingham had its "Peaky Blinders", immortalized by the iconic BBC Two series, broadcast in France on Arte, then Netflix and Amazon Prime;

in Paris it was the Apaches who, at the turn of the 20th century, terrorized the population with batons.

Gouaille, titi accent and little nicknames

From the sidewalk, an actor divides the sixty people into groups of six to eight, and presents things.

"It's not an escape game, we don't turn the tables or the actors, it's useless," he warns, a small smile under his pastiche mustache.

He distributes small papers, we change identity.

Diana, Arthur and Sylvain thus become Anna, Armand and Lucien.

We are postmen, ploughmen, laborers, little people who went to the capital to work and fell on the rebel side of the law, in the zone.

Read alsoWhen the Apache gang shook the Charonne district in Paris

We enter the room, the atmosphere is smoky and already joyful.

Maria, known as the Spaniard or the Gypsy, welcomes us in her big black and red dress, leads us to the counter for the welcome drink that Emilie serves us.

We'll have two more, it's included in the price.

We give her “my little one”, she replies tit for tat, cheeky: “I have a first name, my big one”.

The drawling Titi accent of the suburbs can be heard everywhere.

We are surprised to borrow it, to adopt their manners, by mimicry.

For those who want to play their game, there is something to respond to.

Like us, Maria is one of the Tombeurs, as evidenced by the blue fabric that we, like her, have tied around the wrist or around the neck.

The reds are the Wolves of the Butte, with whom we did the trick.

They are more numerous.

Louis, their leader (known as Casse Roussin), Marcel, (known as wooden head), but also Marthe, the Panther of Ivry and patroness of the

in the area, understand prostitutes, fur coat over small negligee, who comes straight away talk to us about a hoard to share and that we would have diverted at worst… It smells like scorch…

The Apaches really had cult cafes, which they made the bastions of their shenanigans.

LP/Olivier Corsan

There are also the Sans couleurs, “the new ones” who want to integrate the Apache world.

Étienne, Monseigneur de la Butte, a not very Catholic priest, a kind of shepherd for a flock of lost people… The room is packed, we get to the heart of the matter.

In a fiery speech, Louis "Casse Roussin" harangues the troops.

A marriage is organized between the two bands, to seal the union.

Then we serve drinks.

One after another, the actors come to the table, discuss, confide.

So-and-so has gone to prison, another has been torn from his parents, this one is looking for clients.

We are given little nicknames: Armand le Boxeux, Augustin la Lettre, Gustave le Tonneau.

After an Apache dance, where steps and blows intertwine, Maria tries to dance, again, invites us.

We talk to her about the rivalry between the bands, the idea that she sweeps away the idea of ​​a frill of a dress and laughs while we waltz "like the bourgeois".

We will find her in a dark living room where she draws the cards, Louis will tell us about a plan to build to counter the Cannibals of Saint-Ouen, a rival band, we will still visit the safe with the marlou Robert the weasel... To each, and to the others, it is appropriate to exchange, to ask questions, to advance in the quest or the investigation which is proposed to us.

Then comes the event of the evening and everything changes, things rush.

You have to choose, designate, accuse…

The actors come to the table, deck out the participants with nicknames, tell their lives as pimps... LP / Olivier Corsan

It's already the end, come as if by surprise.

We didn't see it coming.

Others, yes, who have not had the same journey as our group.

"We can't see everything, do everything, understand everything, admits the actor who plays Louis.

The idea is that you build your own story throughout the evening.

“We can stay in the place to discuss with the actors, to evoke the Apaches who really existed.

So the names of the bands are real, these thugs really had such HQs that they held as strongholds.

"I really got on board, it's an unusual evening..."

At the tables, some spectators linger over a drink.

And seem seduced.

“It's really really cool.

It's a good experience that changes, the work on the site is impressive,” says Diana.

"We're good in it, even if it seems almost a little too fast," notes Cécile.

It's a bit hard to involve everyone in the same way, but I really got on board, it's an unusual evening”.

“There may be too many of us, so we don't have the whole story, regrets Félix.

But it's a great experience, I've never experienced that.

"It's really original and immersive, they really immerse you in the thing," enthuses Florent.

Even in terms of the decor, it's overworked.

The fact that there are many actors immerses us well in the atmosphere.

I liked everything, the decor, the outfits, the actors, but I had a little trouble getting into it, says Isaline, I remained reserved for a while, but the fact of being in a group it helps, we follow.

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"Apache de Paris", until July 15 for the moment, at 7:30 p.m. at the Café Grévin (Paris 9th).

From 34 to 39 euros with two drinks included.

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