By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Residents looking to step back in time can do so at the Coboconk Community Centre this weekend (Nov. 13-14) where an authentic 1850s wet-plate photography studio will operate during the day before becoming part of a candlelit Victorian murder mystery dinner theatre in the evening.
Organized by Hystory Entertainment and featuring Raven Lunatic Tintype Photography, the weekend pairs historical portraiture with the second chapter of an immersive whodunnit.
Jacquie Barker had spent more than 30 years working in health care before chasing her creative dream when she retired about six years ago. She explained to The Highlander in a recent interview that she had always wanted to build something entirely experiential.
“I have always had this vision where I wanted to do something that was experiential for people from the time I was 16, when I went to Black Creek Pioneer Village the first time with my mom,” Barker said. “I just thought, if not now, when? I’ll just bite the bullet and do it.”
The story, A Masque of Secrets: Murder at Birchwood Estate, picks up two years after Barker’s successful July run. Barker said she streamlined her second production by introducing family-tree charts and colour-coded wax seals on guest name tags in advance. This should help attendees to easily track down specific character rumours during a 30-minute waltz accompanied by a live violinist, she said.
Turning a modern day community centre into 1892 takes a lot of legwork. And a very handy spouse, apparently. Barker said her husband, a cabinet maker and carpenter, built the wooden framing and crossbeams to turn the venue into a realistic maze of hallways, a dining room, and a back parlour.
“It was a huge undertaking, the first one,” Barker said. “And this time, we still have to do a few little changes, but it’s not like it was the first time. I can’t believe I survived that.”
During the day, the venue belongs to tintype photographer Terry Thomas. Using a mid-19th-century process, Thomas coats, exposes, and develops one-of-a-kind, black-and-white portraits onto solid metal plates. The wet-plate process often produces visual quirks, like making tattoos seemingly disappear.
“In most occurrences, it’s a ‘wow’ moment for them,” Thomas said. “Very few people are silent. You get things like, ‘oh my gosh, is that me? Where’d my tattoo go?’”
The photographer said that the tactile nature of tintypes gives people a break from their digital habits, where the vast majority of photographs never get printed.
“Tin won’t break when you drop it,” Thomas added. “That preservation of the moment is why I got into it.”
Thomas will be set up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. Watching the wet-plate demonstration is free. Individual metal portraits cost $60 for a four-by-five-inch plate and $90 for a fiveby-seven-inch plate.
The dinner theatre opens at 5:30 p.m. Tickets priced at $95 per person, or $85 each for groups of four or more and includes a three-course dinner, a welcome drink, and an interactive performance. Tickets are available at bloomtickets.ca/ hostinfo/2120 or by calling 705-209-3044.
