Many folks enjoy mystery dinner theatre. They enjoy an interactive mystery, as well as a good meal. A woman may shout that her necklace is gone. While everyone looks for it, she finds a calling card. It reads “Thanks for the necklace – The Raven. Why did this guy steal the necklace, why leave a not, and most importantly which of the people in the room is the Raven? The game, as Sherlock Holmes often said, is afoot.
Mystery dinner theatre is only one type of mystery theatre. Entire weekends are dedicated to similar mysteries. While some involve the audience watching and at most interacting with the actors, others ask the patrons to help solve the mystery, even to race to solve it with a prize for the winner. Everyone can be a detective at this show.
Don't confuse this with bad food and people getting angry over the poor quality of the meal. It's not really mystery theatre just because the meat is a mystery and the customer is being theatric. If the person suddenly dies with a poison dart in their throat, that's mystery theatre.
Kids love this too. For very young ages the mystery might involve theft rather than murder, but the process is still the same. It's started by actors but everyone is part of the show. Someone in the viewing group may even be part of the mystery. Now nobody can be trusted, someone is withholding information. Now the plot is really getting complicated.
When the shows are put on as a birthday party everyone but the birthday boy is part of the mystery. In effect all the family and friends become part of the cast all focused on the enjoyment of the guest of honor. It's a secret, though, so people better not talk. Woe to the person who spoils it, because then the mystery may become when anyone will talk to him every again.
Combining good food with a mystery is a great idea. Folks love to dig into the plot. Mystery dinner theatre thrives on it. That's why so many people attend and interact with the shows. Keep an eye out at your next meal, a mystery may be about to begin.
