On the Trail
Interactive true-crime walking tour snakes through downtown Austin
In the vein of popular walking tours, a new theatrical experience is coming to the State Theatre this October.
Called Art Heist, the immersive show explores the true-life — and still unsolved — case of the world's biggest art theft: when half a billion dollars in paintings disappeared from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.
Written by theater artist TJ Dawe, who also directed the show with Ming Hudson, the interactive experience recently premiered to sold-out crowds at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. It relies on a socially distanced, outdoor setting as a safe way to experience theater, and promises no two performances will be the same.
Small groups depart from the State Theatre and visit walkable locations throughout downtown Austin, gathering clues and interrogating suspects to try and determine whodunnit. Expect to meet several career criminals and con artists, including a possible inside man, a feared mastermind, and a gentle psychopath.
At the end, teams will submit their guesses for the robber and get to pose inside a giant art frame.
Each 90-minute performance promises to be unique, and start times staggered every 30 minutes help keep groups intimate.
Art Heist runs October 14-31, with tickets starting at $44.50. (Tickets are selling fast; as of press time, the first two dates were already sold out.)
Call the State Theatre box office at 512-474-1221 or visit the website to buy.
