Immersive Theatre and Dining Experience in London

From the production company that bought you the world of 1920’s Peaky Blinders comes Maman Le Mot – an immersive dining experience in the heart of London. Ooh La La!

The theme is 1943 and Europe is being ravaged by war. Churchill has called on the people to unite in an experimental style of guerrilla warfare which includes espionage and highly encourages moustaches. Step into this world of underground intelligence as you are recruited as a top secret agent and find your way to the centre of operations for the French Resistance!

Our first mission as an undercover agent was to look the part. We were told upon booking simply the location and a dress code that encouraged Breton stripes, berets and baguettes. As the evening rolled around, we located the top secret bunker where our intensive spy training would allegedly take place. The spot was appropriately concealed under an arch of the train line, near the backstreets in London Bridge. The location was hidden from the untrained eye by corrugated iron and mountains of sandbags, but we spotted the ‘Secret Agents’ sign outside the entrance in flashing Hollywood bulbs.

After locating the secret destination, we were ushered into a bunker and instructed that we were to forget all we knew about our previous identities. We were introduced to our fellow spies armed with our new characters and were given an intensive language lesson where we were taught how to master to French accent and informed on our missions for the evening.

We were then lead through to another shelter where the operations were well underway. The room was decked out with war-time maps and miniature warships for plotting our attacks and the bar was in full flow, serving creative cocktails and French vin (but, of course!) After being quizzed at the bar about our new identities we were slipped our first mission of the night with our drinks. Our efforts were tallied by the ruthless Colonel Gubbins and awarded at the end of our evening of training.

We were then escorted up to a Moulin Rouge-inspired Parisian Bistro that served a host of delectable French classics such as coq au vin and tarte au citron. This was washed down by none other than the finest French red wine and accompanied by some fantastic 1940s cabaret a la Edith Piaf to really set the scene.

Overall, with terrific attention to detail, superb acting and an impressive commitment to the theme, the whole immersive experience was dazzlingly realistic and fantastic fun.  Watch this space as the venue will evolve to another era, unravelling an entirely new narrative and moment in time.

For more information and to purchase your tickets, head to www.aplaceintime.co.uk/1943/book.php.

By Oonagh Turner