Drink up, time travellers! It’s New Year’s Eve, 1924 and you’re invited to the party of the year! Many Happy Returns is a fully immersive theatrical experience where audience members chat it up with The People of the Past at a swinging speakeasy soirée. Guided by our Time Captain and director Julie Cohn, each performance is utterly unique. So grab some giggle water and get ready for a night that’s really the bee’s knees!

In Many Happy Returns, the time travellers (audience) find themselves at a New Year’s Eve party being hosted by the owner of a local speakeasy. In attendance are the owner, a bartender, a bootlegger, and a socialite. Each of The People of the Past have their own goals and ambitions which the time travellers must work together to find out. As you help them make connections and achieve their dreams, they give the time travellers tokens of their appreciation. The trick is, you’re in a time loop which resets every ten minutes, and there are only five time loops allotted to finding these items. With ten items to locate, every moment counts. 

I had such an amazing time at this production. The hostesses at Coffee Oysters Champagne are dressed for the occasion as well, and happily greet the party guests with a glass of champagne upon arrival. We’re encouraged to mingle with each other even before the production takes place, as we’re going to need to work together to complete the evening’s tasks. Theatre is already such a collaborative process, that to take it to the level where the audience is collaborating not only with the performers but with each other as well is marvellous. The atmosphere is fun and lighthearted, and it’s delightful to see how creative other attendees get with attempting to get these artifacts. I was also thrilled to see so many attendees dressed up with the theme; it really amped up the atmosphere and you could tell that everyone was there to have a great time. 

Another unique element to the production is that they have a rotating cast, with two performers sharing the same role throughout the run. This means that you could come multiple times and likely not have the exact same set of People from the Past each time. Julie Cohn helms the production as the Time Captain. Julie does a fabulous job of encouraging the time travellers to interact with each other while also ensuring that we’re obeying all of the rules (don’t touch the People of the Past!). Tamika Poetzsch was our mischievous bartender and her bubbly personality made her a stand-out in the performance. Kat Welsh’s bootlegger gave all of the party vibes from the moment she entered! Her presence added a delightful level of chaos to each time loop. Jing Cui is an elegant and refined host, who flits about the room with grace. Saint Stella is a vibrant and perfectly diva-like socialite. She even managed to get me to sing for her! These performers are masterful at what they do; they have to somewhat guide us towards the right paths while also keeping up the mystery and fun of it all. Truly, my hat’s off to them!

If you’re feeling like a fun and glamorous night out, Many Happy Returns is the show for you! It runs every Wednesday at 6pm at Coffee Oysters Champagne on King Street. Your ticket gets you two drinks (the champagne upon arrival and another cocktail while you’re in the experience) as well as some appetizers before the performance begins (which are delectable). I truly hope to be invited to more fantastic events like this, and you definitely won’t want to miss out on Many Happy Returns. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.sevenrooms.com/events/ahNzfnNldmVucm9vbXMtc2VjdXJlchwLEg9uaWdodGxvb3BfVmVudWUYgICwv5WXwQoM?event_id=ahNzfnNldmVucm9vbXMtc2VjdXJlcjkLEg9uaWdodGxvb3BfVmVudWUYgICwv5WXwQoMCxIQc3JfR2VuVmVudWVFdmVudBiAgM7BhLHACAw

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