Forbidden Vancouver: Interactive theatrical Storytelling City Walking Tours
As the clock stroke seven in the evening, a group of reporters gather at a corner at the open plaza across the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Downtown Vancouver, anticipating the arrival of the lone reporter working in secret, who has gathered the details of all things hidden about the town came to known as Vancouver.
That was the opening scene of the interactive Vancouver walk tour “Forbidden Vancouver”. It was first established in year 2012 by Will Woods, an acting school graduate and entrepreneur who combined theatre, history, iconic buildings and places to create adventures that lead participants to explore and learn about Vancouver’s interestingly dynamic past. During the tours, a storyteller leads the tour participants to discover pieces of interesting histories of Vancouver.
Woods began on his own as the storyteller of his first tour – Prohibition City, an adventure exploring Vancouver’s darker, mafia-like history during the blooming eras of the city. What was the saloons like in the past? How did the prohibition law started? Who were the big names in the city? Which buildings are still standing and have seen it all? The approximately two hour tour brings history into the present, presenting histories from local entertainment scenes to politics to how Vancouver was affected by the raging ties of the world history. Woods soon recruited a second storyteller and added a second tour during the Halloween season in the same year – The Lost Souls of Gastown, and has become a regular tour of the Forbidden Vancouver program. Within three years, Forbidden Vancouver’s tour rosters has grown to include Secrets of the Penthouse, Granville Street Reveal, and this year’s first special staged walking tour: “Who Killed Kraft Bier?”, a beer-tasting-murder-mystery extravaganza on September 27th, 2015, where participants will role play as detectives.
This year, Woods’ business partner Tanya Bennett has launched “Vancouver Mysteries”, an interactive reality game with the city of Vancouver as the setting.
Through the special era costumes, vivid retelling of the distance past, sometimes theatrical and sometimes humorous elements and a well-coordinated scenic location route, Forbidden Vancouver brings participants a fun-filled and educational event that allow the charm and charisma of the city to shine.
Forbidden Vancouver is rated 5 out of 5 on Trip Advisor and is a Lonely Planet “top choice”.
For more information on Forbidden Vancouver walking tours: http://forbiddenvancouver.ca/
For interactive mystery solving missions: http://www.vancouvermysteries.com/
