We attended the preview of the play “Au Bonheur des Dames” by Emile Zola, played in an immersive version at the Bon Marché in Paris

Thursday July 7, 8:30 p.m., rue Velpeau, above a door a small red light sparkles along the facade of the Bon Marché Rive Gauche. On the occasion of its 170th anniversary, the department store has chosen an original way to highlight its history. UOnce night falls, plunged into darkness, it becomes the stage for an immersive play, directed by Juliette Colin with thirty actors from the company Crumble Production.

After several nights of rehearsals for this revisit of the novel To the happiness of the ladies by Emile Zola, the actors were gathered for a preview which we attended. The show is played from September 2 until the end of 2022, on Friday and Saturday evenings.

This historical piece is an opportunity to draw a parallel between the success story of the founders of Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche – Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut – and the story of a great work of French literature. At the Ladies’ Happiness by Emile Zola.

In 1852, Aristide Boucicaut was hired as an employee at the Bon Marché, which he gradually transformed into a department store, upsetting the codes of commerce and social mores. Thirty years later, the novelist Émile Zola in turn pushes the door of Le Bon Marché to investigate its managers and employees. He thus has the material to write his new novel At the Ladies’ Happiness which will appear in 1883.

The experience begins with the descent into the basement of the store. Below, we cross a construction site where the workers are busy. Water damage has occurred, we are told… In the background, the sound of a radio telling us that at then the occasion of its 170th anniversary, the Bon Marché organized a party and there was a murder. We then realize that the play has already begun and that the culprit must be found!

We go back to the ground floor. And there, we discover the main protagonists, in period costumes, gathered on the passageway of the first floor in a store plunged into darkness. They introduce themselves to us, in turn. The characters are Théodore (founder of Bonheur des Dames and uncle of Caroline), Denise (the saleswoman), Gaspard (the designer), Henriette (the bourgeois client and dearest friend of Caroline), Alphonse (the treasurer), Caroline (the director) and Octave (the director and husband of Caroline).

Unlike a classic play where the actors intervene throughout the story, here the characters are introduced to us from the start of the show. Here we are immersed in the world of department stores at the end of the 19th century to live the revisited story of Au Ladies happiness.

It’s the start of a journey space and time, towards the year 1862. At the entrance to the store, we all received a badge representing one of the eight main characters, with a small descriptive head. I inherit from Alphonse, the treasurer of the department store, a farsighted and meticulous man who considers his work as his life’s work.

In small groups of about twenty people, guided by a scout dressed all in white, we go up to the second floor to watch our first skit.

With my group here we are in front of Alphonse. The treasurer of the department store sits alone at his desk, in front of him, his large account book, an inkwell, pencils, a lamp… behind him, the safe where he keeps the daily recipe, a small cupboard full of of accounting books and a frame with pinned butterflies. On the left side of the desk, a large floor lamp illuminates the scene. Suddenly appears Octave, the dreaded director, who has transformed the small novelty shop into a department store. He comes to talk to his friend.

We witness the scene which is held a few centimeters from us: eIndeed, the latter is no longer limited to a stage on which the actors perform in front of a seated audience. This immersive experience revolutionizes the codes of traditional stage practice since it places the spectator directly at the heart of the story.

Octave leaves Alphonse indicating that he is going to see Gaspard. The couturier is the new darling that all Parisiennes are snapping up. The public follows in his footsteps and crosses in the darkness the space which separates it from the next scene where another decor has been planted, that of the creative salon: dresses on stockmans, a desk overflowing with sketches, a sewing machine, large spools of colored thread…

The theater stage extends over the entire second floor in the middle of the sales areas, which the store, plunged into darkness, makes it possible to forget. Several scenes are organized, supporting decor, in different places and are played at the same time.

Although the viewer moves from place to place, he continues, however, to feel immersed in the story. Panels indicate the different scenes: men’s lounge, Inspector Jouve’s office, Henriette’s boudoir…

Even if it is physically impossible to see them all, it does not detract from the comprehension of the overall history. Each scene must enlighten the spectator on the nature of the different characters and, above all, help him to understand who the culprit is.

My wandering continues then I leave my group to see what is happening a little further. The store is plunged into darkness, but from time to time lamps shine, indicating that a scene is being played out. 3,000 m2 of play, I realize that the advice to put on comfortable shoes was of good quality.

I take the time to look at the sets, here a saleswoman’s stall with her rolls of shimmering fabrics, there a milliner’s counter with her different hats and her mirror, a little further on in a space usually dedicated to dressing rooms. he fitting, a boudoir is set up: a mirror, a hairbrush, bottles, a trunk on the floor.

I walk in this life-size setting, like many others who are also wandering around. During my wanderings, I discover other pcharacters: they are 30 protagonists who help us to reconstruct the puzzle of this fateful night which ends with the final scene, that of the masked ball where the murder takes place. After two hours of performance, each participant must use the token received at the start of the evening to cast their vote and designate the murderer. It’s time for the revelation. Time has passed too quickly!

If immersive theater can turn out to be a new experience like an impression of being more than a spectator but also in a way an actor, it is also for the actors. “It’s an experience for us too, we adapt and there is even a part of improvisation. As everything is happening at the same time, sometimes the timing is less good and there are waiting times that ‘we must furnish’, explains one of the actresses for whom it was the first experience of immersive theatre. “There is also voice work, because it’s not a classic performance hall. In terms of space, it’s more tiring, we never stop. We have to be extremely concentrated, more than for a classic show, because there are people around“, concludes the actress.

A completely disconcerting performance, an enjoyable experience, which gives the spectator the impression of being part of the show. Only downside, a certain frustration: we would like to keep track of this magical moment, but it is forbidden to use your mobile phone for the duration of the play.

Immersive theater “Au Bonheur des Dames” of the September 2 to December 30, 2022. Reservation on the Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche website, 21, rue Velpeau. 75007 Paris. 75€ per person. From 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.