Live History Comes to the Museum

By Jubilee P. Reid

An exciting new event is coming to the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in July. The Canadian-based traveling theatre company, Live History, is going to perform two interactive theatrical history shows at the museum on July 19^th and 20^th.

Founded in Ottawa, Canada in 2015 by actor Jasmine Bowen, Live History has toured internationally to numerous countries including England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Bermuda, Australia, and New Zealand. This organization, nominated for the prestigious Canadian Governor General’s Award, was created to bring renewed interest to museums and other historic locations.

Live History’s creative team of writers, designers, and actors specialize in bringing local history to life everywhere they perform. Each venue selects local characters of historical significance which the performers bring to life with the aid of costumes and props. Every show is customized to the location. Live History has performed at a wide variety of sites ranging from libraries, castles, and gardens to forts, battleships, and even windmills.

The productions incorporate local history into an “escape room theatre” mystery quest experience which will involve a great deal of interaction with the audience. Though the performances include escape room style clues, the goal is to discover something pertaining to history, such as a treasure or name, not to escape the venue. These shows are a great way to learn history while having fun solving clues.

The shows being performed at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum will portray people significant to the rich history of McMinn County. The first show being presented is titled “In Time: An Interactive Historical Quest.” This performance will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday July 19^th. Visitors will be given start times, generally every 15 to 20 minutes, and the time to complete the experience is generally about one hour. The audience will interact with the characters portrayed by the actors while solving clues and completing assigned tasks such as were common in times past. Tickets for In Time are $10 and children under 5 can enter for free.

The second show Live History will be performing is titled “A Timeless Gathering: A Dinner Theatre Experience.” This dinner show will be presented twice, at 6 p.m., on both Friday the 19^th and Saturday the 20^th, and lasts roughly 1 ½ hours. The audience will be enjoying a casual sit-down meal when a historical character known only as “Circa” enters. This person from the past has suddenly found themself in modern times and must rediscover who they are. The audience will help the character by using clues to solve riddles throughout the dinner as the person “remembers” fragments of who they are. Each show has a limit of 30 seats and tickets are $35 each, which includes the meal. For more information on this unique theatre company visit Live History’s website at livehistoryshows.com.

Don’t miss out on this one-of-a-kind chance to meet people from McMinn County’s history! There are unlimited tickets available for In Time but only 60 tickets total for the two performances of A Timeless Gathering. Visit the museum in person or through our website to purchase tickets for these unique historical shows.