A lavish, wine-soaked plunge into bohemian Paris, Chat Noir! is immersive theatre at its most playful, provocative and joyfully unrestrained.
From the moment velvet curtains part and candlelit tables flicker into view, Chat Noir! invites its audience not just to watch, but to fully slip into another time, a bohemian, wine-soaked dream of 1890s Paris where art, indulgence and a little chaos reign supreme.
Entering The Lost Estate’s transformed West London venue feels like stepping into a living painting. Guests, dressed to the nines in vintage silks and waistcoats, become part of the spectacle before the show has even begun. At the centre of it all is Joe Morrow as Rodolphe Salis, our charismatic compère and ringmaster for the evening, guiding the room through a three-act journey of death, absinthe and anarchy, each paired with indulgent courses and free-flowing creativity.
What follows is less a traditional narrative and more a riotous collage of performance. Issy Wroe Wright’s Muse (Yvette Guilbert) is gloriously bawdy and magnetic, prowling between tables with a voice that doesn’t just fill the room but pulls the audience into it. There’s a playful irreverence to her performance that feels distinctly modern, even as it nods to cabaret roots. Alongside her, Neil Kelso’s illusionist (Joseph Buatier) threads clever, intimate magic through the crowd, moments of quiet astonishment that feel tailored to each table, blurring the line between performer and guest.
The physical performances are just as striking. Coco Belle as Cléo de Mérode commands the space with fluidity and power, her movement sweeping the room into moments of colour and intensity, while Pi the Mime (Alex Luttley) delivers something unexpectedly tender. The opening “Death” sequence, a romantic, tragic encounter involving a simple cloak, balances humour and heartbreak with surprising delicacy, setting the tone for an evening that constantly shifts between the ridiculous and the profound.
Throughout, the house band, Les Enfants Vagabondes, are nothing short of exceptional. Led musically by Alex Ullman on piano and joined by Guy Button, Peteris Sokolovskis, Will Fry and Áine McLoughlin, they weave through the space with precision and flair, reimagining classics with a contemporary pulse. Their presence is constant, grounding even the most surreal moments in something richly atmospheric.
The second act, “Absinthe,” leans into a more introspective tone. Visually, it’s stunning, green-hued hallucinations brought to life through dance and mime, with Coco Belle’s nymph-like presence particularly mesmerising. There’s a clear intention here to explore how art fades, distorts and lingers in memory. While the energy dips slightly in this section, especially between courses, the performances themselves remain compelling, offering a thoughtful counterpoint to the surrounding spectacle.
By the time “Anarchy” arrives, the show explodes back into life. A frenetic, dazzling finale sees the company tear through operatic and theatrical references, most notably a whirlwind take on Carmen, building to a chaotic, exhilarating crescendo. The chemistry between performers is electric, and the sense of abandon is infectious. It’s messy, bold and completely unapologetic.
Chat Noir! thrives on this tension between structure and spontaneity. It’s immersive without being overwhelming, theatrical without losing its intimacy, and indulgent in all the right ways. Not every moment lands with equal impact, but the overall experience is one of warmth, creativity and sheer commitment to the world it builds.
A night that encourages you to stay a little longer, drink a little more deeply, and lose yourself, just for a few hours, in the art of it all.