HotHouse Theatre delights players with world premiere, This Is Your City

This is live theatre but not as you know it.

Together with AlburyCity and City of Wodonga, HotHouse Theatre opened This Is Your City, a world premiere production and live gaming experience on Saturday.

This Is Your City is a theatrical adaptation of the 1986 classic Albury-Wodonga board game where family and friends watch a show, drive around and play live through the Twin Cities.

First things first, patrons need to choose a captain, radio announcer, contact tracer and journalist.

(Don't all squabble over being the journalist, either! No one in my team did. We had to assign one of the two 11-year-olds on our team!)

Answering a mayday from the past, players are called on to become contact tracers on a mission to save a trailblazing heroine, in this race against time.

Transforming your car into a time travelling-cardis, teams delve into the timestream traversing locations and events across the board game to retrieve the young girl before the time runs out and the global race ends.

It's not nearly as tricky as it sounds and it's a hoot to boot!

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Without giving away anything destination-wise, players wind up at key places in and around Albury-Wodonga - some sparking good and timely talks within the team - over a two-hour-ish journey. Fear not, there are chances to fuel up at eateries along the way. Then there are QR codes to guide you to your next stop.

If the puzzles prove challenging for the over-50s, pass the phone to the under-15s.

They can do them with their eyes closed, almost.

The 11-year-old "journalist" on our team said the show was "awesome" and it "helped me meet my activity target for the day" while the "contract tracer and chief back seat driver", also 11, claimed it was "cool".

HotHouse Theatre creative director Karla Conway described the immersive event as "a love letter to Albury-Wodonga" developed during the global pandemic when considering how theatre might look in future.

For a team of talented creatives to put together such an innovative, fun and educational experience that challenges, unites and delights people of all ages, is a truly thoughtful gesture.

It must be love!

How ever you see it, strap yourself in for a joy ride!!

This Is Your City runs Saturday and Sunday, 11am, 11.40am, 12.20pm and 1pm. It starts at the Butter Factory Theatre.

Players will need a smartphone and car while a team of four works best.

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