Whodunit was the theme for the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Weekend in Cambridge, Ohio on November 6-8, 2015. Bobby and I were in the thick of the game as we participated in finding clues to solve the mystery presented before us. It was a fund raiser for the St. Benedict School put on by the Cambridge Performing Arts Centre.
Friday night we were introduced to the mystery by watching the first act of the original play “Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Seven Stages” written by Anne Chlovechok. We were given a goodie bag and a folder with a map of Historic Downtown Cambridge. The map gave us the sites of where clues could be found on Saturday, November 7 beginning at 1 p.m.
Saturday morning, we enjoyed brunch and the second act of the play. Here we met more characters and delved deeper into the mystery. We were then let loose to do our own sleuthing about town.
Cambridge turns their downtown into a Victorian Village during the months of November and December each year. Part of the transformation includes 90 plus vignettes depicted by Victorian dressed mannequins at almost every street light and in storefront windows. It was among some of these vignettes that clues were located. We also sought enlightenment at the train depot, the Strand Theater (now the Cambrige Performing Arts Centre), the Robert Mullin Inn and the Dickens Victorian Village Welcome Center.
We used the afternoon to deduce and analyze the murders and come to our own conclusions of who the murderer was. We filled in our answer sheets while enjoying a delicious lunch at The Guernsey Kitchen. (They have great burgers and fresh cut fries!)
By Saturday evening my brain was tired. I kept trying to figure out the pieces to the puzzle. I was really glad when I could finally turn in my answer sheet and stop thinking about it. Turns out what I had deduced was wrong, but that is O.K. It was a great time.
We finished the evening off by going to the casts’ afterglow party. I had a chance to speak to the actors and commend them on a job well done. The final piece was to have a one-on-one interview with Anne, the writer and director of the play. (You can listen to the podcast here.)
It was a full weekend! We basically crashed upon our return to the hotel. We were tired, but we were glad to have participated in the game.
Have you ever done a murder mystery? Would love to hear about it. Please share in the comments below. If you would like to see the play, Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Seven Stages, you can. This weekend, November 13, 14 and 15, you can see the play in its entirety at the Cambridge Performing Arts Centre.
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