Some of our readers may have been touched by the tragic fate of the Gaîté Lyrique, the iconic Parisian theatre that was stormed by migrants nine months ago and forced to close its doors. The left-wing Paris City Council found itself caught between two of its favourite constituencies: defenders of artists, who had been left unemployed by the occupation and deterioration of the premises, and defenders of migrants. After months of legal and political battles, the migrants were finally evicted, and the venue returned to its original purpose. Given the announced programme, it is not clear whether this is good news.
In December 2024, 400 illegal immigrants claiming residence permits settled within the walls of the Gaîté Lyrique theatre, one of the most famous institutions on the Parisian scene. Initially, the theatre’s management supported the squatters before being overwhelmed by the movement.
The migrants’ occupation, which lasted several months, brought disaster for the cultural institution: a string of cancelled performances, resulting in considerable losses in revenue, followed by physical damage to the building—not to mention the damage to its image. In March, the police finally decided, on the orders of the Paris police headquarters, to evict the offenders. The cost of this period of unrest is now estimated at €3 million.
The theatre’s management, full of left-wing humanism, was counting on the City of Paris, its ideological ally, to foot the bill. Unfortunately, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has a generous heart but empty pockets. She enthusiastically supports the cause of culture and that of migrants but has announced that she does not have a penny to give to La Gaîté Lyrique. This was undoubtedly a difficult pill to swallow. “The City of Paris has done an about-face and refused to participate in the economic recovery of the establishment. This is an incomprehensible decision in view of the commitments made, the cultural influence of La Gaîté Lyrique and the immediate social consequences on the preservation of more than 80 jobs,” lamented the theatre’s management in a press release.
After the storm, it was necessary to get back to work very quickly in order to generate revenue as soon as possible and reconnect with the public. On Thursday, September 11th, La Gaîté Lyrique reopened its doors. And guess what the first events back in the prestigious venue will focus on? “The experience of migration across generations.” It seems that the dose administered in recent months was not strong enough to produce a lasting vaccine effect. The Gaîté Lyrique was brought down by the madness of migration ideology, but that was clearly not enough: now it’s back for more.
For Elia, manager of the Gaîté bistro, a stone’s throw from the theatre, whose clientele was traditionally made up of theatregoers, this is “pure provocation.” She, too, has paid dearly for the Gaîté’s siege. Customers fled, and she had to deal with physical threats from migrants who came to sit on her café terrace. And now she sees the hell she had to live through for several months being brought to the stage.
But that’s not all. The theatre’s upcoming events are now known, and they are all of the same ilk. On September 13th, a “feminist and anti-racist” literary festival was held, “highlighting racialised and committed authors who are rarely seen, and shifting the focus away from the dominant discourse in a context of editorial concentration and the rise of the far Right.” On September 27th, with “Contes à Paillettes” (Glitter Tales), drag queens will read to children aged five and up “to host a crazy bingo game” with “readings of carefully selected stories to free the imagination from stereotypes and move beyond the figure of the princess to be rescued.”
As a lover of the history of Parisian entertainment, my heart is torn. Can we wish for the definitive demise of this beautiful theatre, which lent its walls to Offenbach and Diaghilev? But can we rejoice in seeing these noble walls once again put at the service of an ideology whose sole aim is to destroy everything we hold dear? We can only hope that bankruptcy will finally punish the “bingos” who occupy them, and that they will give way to other, more inspired artists.
Unfortunately, we learn on the Gaîté Lyrique website that this enticing programme is self-financed through crowdfunding. For once, there is no public money involved, but this means that there are diehards who are determined to keep the nightmare going at all costs. The battle will be tough: the world of culture is a small boat that the Left has no intention of letting fall into hands other than its own.
Help, Wokeism Is Back on Stage at the Gaîté Lyrique!
La Gaîté Lyrique theater in Paris, 2020.
Bertrand Guay / AFP
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Some of our readers may have been touched by the tragic fate of the Gaîté Lyrique, the iconic Parisian theatre that was stormed by migrants nine months ago and forced to close its doors. The left-wing Paris City Council found itself caught between two of its favourite constituencies: defenders of artists, who had been left unemployed by the occupation and deterioration of the premises, and defenders of migrants. After months of legal and political battles, the migrants were finally evicted, and the venue returned to its original purpose. Given the announced programme, it is not clear whether this is good news.
In December 2024, 400 illegal immigrants claiming residence permits settled within the walls of the Gaîté Lyrique theatre, one of the most famous institutions on the Parisian scene. Initially, the theatre’s management supported the squatters before being overwhelmed by the movement.
The migrants’ occupation, which lasted several months, brought disaster for the cultural institution: a string of cancelled performances, resulting in considerable losses in revenue, followed by physical damage to the building—not to mention the damage to its image. In March, the police finally decided, on the orders of the Paris police headquarters, to evict the offenders. The cost of this period of unrest is now estimated at €3 million.
The theatre’s management, full of left-wing humanism, was counting on the City of Paris, its ideological ally, to foot the bill. Unfortunately, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has a generous heart but empty pockets. She enthusiastically supports the cause of culture and that of migrants but has announced that she does not have a penny to give to La Gaîté Lyrique. This was undoubtedly a difficult pill to swallow. “The City of Paris has done an about-face and refused to participate in the economic recovery of the establishment. This is an incomprehensible decision in view of the commitments made, the cultural influence of La Gaîté Lyrique and the immediate social consequences on the preservation of more than 80 jobs,” lamented the theatre’s management in a press release.
After the storm, it was necessary to get back to work very quickly in order to generate revenue as soon as possible and reconnect with the public. On Thursday, September 11th, La Gaîté Lyrique reopened its doors. And guess what the first events back in the prestigious venue will focus on? “The experience of migration across generations.” It seems that the dose administered in recent months was not strong enough to produce a lasting vaccine effect. The Gaîté Lyrique was brought down by the madness of migration ideology, but that was clearly not enough: now it’s back for more.
For Elia, manager of the Gaîté bistro, a stone’s throw from the theatre, whose clientele was traditionally made up of theatregoers, this is “pure provocation.” She, too, has paid dearly for the Gaîté’s siege. Customers fled, and she had to deal with physical threats from migrants who came to sit on her café terrace. And now she sees the hell she had to live through for several months being brought to the stage.
But that’s not all. The theatre’s upcoming events are now known, and they are all of the same ilk. On September 13th, a “feminist and anti-racist” literary festival was held, “highlighting racialised and committed authors who are rarely seen, and shifting the focus away from the dominant discourse in a context of editorial concentration and the rise of the far Right.” On September 27th, with “Contes à Paillettes” (Glitter Tales), drag queens will read to children aged five and up “to host a crazy bingo game” with “readings of carefully selected stories to free the imagination from stereotypes and move beyond the figure of the princess to be rescued.”
As a lover of the history of Parisian entertainment, my heart is torn. Can we wish for the definitive demise of this beautiful theatre, which lent its walls to Offenbach and Diaghilev? But can we rejoice in seeing these noble walls once again put at the service of an ideology whose sole aim is to destroy everything we hold dear? We can only hope that bankruptcy will finally punish the “bingos” who occupy them, and that they will give way to other, more inspired artists.
Unfortunately, we learn on the Gaîté Lyrique website that this enticing programme is self-financed through crowdfunding. For once, there is no public money involved, but this means that there are diehards who are determined to keep the nightmare going at all costs. The battle will be tough: the world of culture is a small boat that the Left has no intention of letting fall into hands other than its own.
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