THE NOT SO GILDED AGE is a murder mystery clue party character game that takes inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe HOUSE OF USHER and Shakespeare ROMEO & JULIET set in 1892.
FYI… This is possibly my favorite scripts I have written. I charge $800+ to show up with printed scripts and clues, answer sheets and my new murder boards, and pens… AKA everything but the red string! We also bring prizes for top detectives OR the murder if they get away with the crime AND BEST ACTOR & BEST COSTUME awards, so encourage folks to dress up and play along!
EMAIL to book this or another one of my shows, or let me write a new show for your imagined theme! I am based in Manhattan, and weekly travel to events DC to Boston but I also have detectives now based in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Richmond, Chicago and San Francisco. OR order the 20.character box / digital download and hire an actor locally anywhere in the world. We can also customize a box/pdf download for your guests list. Email for those rates!
You can order the 20 character box mailed to you anywhere USA for as little as $100. This digital download of the 20 character set is available.anywhere your internet service can reach just $50. HOWEVER FOR TODAY ONLY, I am practically giving it away for $5. Every week I am going to do a similar deal with one of my scripts, or books. Stay tuned.
WHAT’S A CLUE PARTY?
Invite your friends…
Order the box, digital download or hire one of our detectives. Invite your friends. Encourage all to dress for the theme.
As each guest arrives they receive an invitation addressed to their character and instructed to review but not to share any details until the game starts. Inside each finds their character bio, written in 1st person (they can literally read off the page if not feeling up to some improvisation), and THREE unique clues about other characters.
FYI The prefab DIY kits include 20 characters but we customize shows for 300+ guests.Up to 40 or so EVERYONE plays a character. For larger events we recommend 20 guests become the “actors” while everyone splits up into teams of detectives. Great for corporate team building.
SPEED DATING FOR SUSPECTS
Each guest is double cast as their character AND a deputized detective! After the host reads the introduction to the show, presenting the crime scene location and type of weapon used, everyone inteogates each other, collecting story and clues that lead to a single murderer. But beware of red herrings and human nature.
THE FINAL REVEAL
The show ends with everyone filling out answer sheets with their best guest for WHO DID IT, WHERE, HOW & WHY? (Murderer, Location, Weapon and Motive). If no one guests correctly we name the perp THE WINNER. Make sure folks vote for best actor and costume and give them the Award Winning Speech moment.
The NOT So Gilded Age Story…
Nearly 14 month ago, I was hired to create an original show around the theme, Gothic Garden Soiree, based on the venue selected for the event. The result is my show, The NOT So Guild Age, a multicharacter murder mystery clue party. The event was a huge success. Especially as EVERY guest committed to their roles.
The key to the Gothic aesthetic that became the backdrop of the greatest horror stories – Frankenstein, Dracula, Jeckle & Hyde, etc – is the crumbling of centuries old castles, cleaned up with lush draperies, oil lamps, candles, and lush gardens including many tropical varieties brought back to Europe and America from expeditions to Africa, Asia, Polynesia, South America, etc.
The aristocracy of the late Victorian Era lived large while the masses suffered the shadows of the industrial revolution. This is the world that gave birth to true legends like Jack the Ripper as well as Literary legends like Sherlock Holmes.
Our story starts at the engagement party for two young loves from two rival families, BOTH former titans of industry – one making their fortune off Whale Oil Lamps, the other from Beeswax Candles.
But our story takes place 10 years after Edison turned on electric lights in New York City and both families are crumbling and the aging stone palaces slowly are becoming the future crypts.
Some names will survive. We still have streets and neighborhoods and institutions named after Astor, Vanderbilt and Carnegie.
But come the turn of the century, no one will remember Beatrice Shaw (no relation) of Shaw Wicks. Today, no one mourns the passing of The Vale family, or their one time international monopoly on Whale Blubber lamps and the oil that kept the world lit for over 100 years.
Walt Frasier 