ARTS & CULTURE
THE GREAT ESCAPE
Escape rooms have become a big trend in the last few years, but what makes the one at Oliver Cromwell’s house different is the historic location, which is reflected in the setting of the game. Designed around the heritage of the building and the connection with Oliver Cromwell, the game takes place in the house’s tithe office, a 17th-century wood-panelled room where Cromwell himself would have counted taxes. Step into the room and back to 1910; the current resident of the vicarage
has rented the tithe room to his friend Cornelius Chadwick, who has now disappeared. Your task is to piece together the clues left around the room and find out where he has gone, and why. Siobhan Godwood from the Edition team took a group of 14 year olds along to discover if they were up to the task. “The puzzle was challenging,” she says, “which made it satisfying when we deciphered clues, and definitely suitable for a team of adults. Our teenage detectives were a bit disorganised, but
our guide was on hand, behind closed doors, to offer gentle clues and we got there in the end. The house makes a very atmospheric setting for an escape room game, and we completed our visit with a tour of the rest of Cromwell’s house and learned a lot about its history.” You can book an escape room at Oliver Cromwell’s house for one of three sessions every Saturday and Sunday, with extra slots on bank holidays and on Thursdays during school holidays. olivercromwellshouse.co.uk
The Academy of Ancient Music is back in Cambridge this March to bring you a performance of Baroque composer Handel’s best-loved operas and oratorios. Handel’s Heroines is a collaboration between the Academy and the London Handel Festival, promising to bring you a thrilling concert. The show includes a dazzling programme of Handel’s work, featuring Serse , Ariodante , Rinaldo and Semele , along with plenty of other fine arias and duets with acclaimed Handelian Laurence Cummings, who brings his unmistakable flair to the show both on harpsichord and as director. The stunning sopranos of Mary Bevan and Jennifer France are thoroughly celebrated throughout the show, which any fan of Handel’s melodies would be a fool to miss. You can catch Handel’s Heroines on Thursday 12 March at 7.30pm at West Road Concert Hall. Tickets from £16. cambridgelive.org.uk AAM CONCERT – HANDEL’S HEROINES
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