If you like searching, prizes, bragging rights and 18th-century medicine then Larrikin Theatre has an event for you.
On Sept. 22 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Larrikin will be holding a downtown scavenger hunt to kick off its entertainment season.
The scavenger hunt, which precedes the “spooky season” will be followed closely by Larrikin’s upcoming show The Resurrectionists.
The show is about Magda, who is “desperate for an education in an era when women were ineligible for university enrolment on the basis of gender, oppressed by the impending inevitability of an arranged marriage to a very dull fellow, and railing against the oppression of it all, strikes a dangerous deal with William, a first-year medical student,” said Larrikin’s website.
Selene Vakharia, the scavenger hunt organizer, said they wanted to find a unique format that people could get really excited about and would showcase the diversity of theatre.
“That’s where the scavenger hunt came in,” said Vakharia. “There’s two parts of it. The scavenger hunt is going to be set in the late 1800s. Challengers are going to step into the role of someone who’s becoming a medical student.”
Participants will solve clues throughout downtown to find secret locations where they are “going to complete a series of 1800s-themed spooky apothecary-style challenges,” said Vakharia.
It will incorporate theatre by getting people immersed in the story.
“We often think about theatre as you’re the audience watching a stage where the performance is happening,” said Vakharia. “But, it’s actually more diverse than that. This invites people to really immerse themselves into that storyline of being an 1800s medical student and choosing their own adventure. They get to really play out the story in a fun with friends.”
Vakharia said, so far, there has been good reception to the event with over 20 teams registered. People can register in teams of one to four.
There will be no cap, “unless it really gets up there,” on teams that can participate.
“Most of the challenges are outside,” said Vakharia. “There’s one indoors and what we’ll be doing for that, as with any enclosed space, is its kind of first-come, first-serve. So that adds to the race element.”
Vakharia said the event is family and accessibility-friendly. Vehicles are not allowed.
The scavenger hunt will be between Shipyards Park and Rotary Peace Park up to the Clay Cliffs.
There will be prizes and bragging rights up for grabs, but Vakharia said people can choose to do the scavenger hunt as they wish – whether they do the whole thing, or just bits of it.
It is a good way for people to explore Whitehorse’s downtown, said Vakharia.
“There’s going to be some spaces where people don’t often go and that we often forget about when we’re living our day-to-day lives,” said Vakharia. “So it’s going to be a fun way to get people to re-explore those spaces.”
The scavenger hunt is free to join and people can register at whitehorsescavengerhunt.eventbrite.ca.
Contact John Tonin at john.tonin@yukon-news.com
