Students will try to find “whodunit” (who done it) and possibly be found guilty of comitting the crime at the Mystery Dinner Date Night.
The event will take place on Jan. 18 and 19 at 6 p.m. in the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, which is located on 100 E. 700 North in Provo.
Tickets are being sold at the Wilkinson Student Center Information Desk for $24 per couple, which includes dinner and dessert. Proceeds go to covering the event.
Along with their tickets, students will receive their identities for the night and are encouraged to dress and act in character, according to Kari Nelson, curator of education at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures.
Lindsey Fields, a junior studying anthropology from Gig Harbor, Wash., is an education assistant at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures and is running the event this year.
Fields said at past events she was really surprised and excited to see how people got into character, dressed up and wanted to participate.
This semester’s theme is “The Disappearance of the Weaving Swords.”
“… The premise of the mystery is that various characters are invited to the MPC (Museum of Peoples and Cultures) for the gala opening and presentation of the Weaving Swords,” Fields said. “After everyone has gathered, they find that the swords have been stolen, and the archaeologists, reporters, students, museum employees and all other characters must work together to find out ‘whodunit.’”
Before the night is over, one of the guests will be named the criminal.
According to Deborah Smith, a senior studying archaeology who was in charge of the event in the past, guests will be given a booklet during dinner with information they can choose to share or hide and will have a chance to guess who they think committed the crime.
“(The characters) all also have a connection to the swords that could make them turn into a criminal,” Smith said.
According to Fields the event will also incorporate the museum’s Entwined exhibit on Mayan weaving.
“The MPC hosts this event to give people a fun and different museum experience,” Nelson said. “You are still going to learn about the exhibitions, but with a twist.”
The night will not only educate about the exhibitions, but also offer students a unique dating experience.
“First, just becoming another character is very different than any other date night,” Smith said. “Secondly, it creates a setting that is fun for long-term daters, but a more stress-free environment for those who are on their first date. It gives them something to talk about after they are off.”
For those wondering what to expect from the evening, Smith offered this advice: “Expect the unexpected. You may go thinking that you are helping solve the crime, but are you the one that did it?”
