Poisoned at the Priory
Charles Bravo · Balham · 1876
“A fine house, a full household, and a story everyone has already agreed on.”
- Players
- 6 to 12 adults, plus the host
- At its best
- 6 to 9 guests
- Runs
- 2 to 3 hours with dinner
- Setting
- The Priory, Balham, 1876
- History
- Real case: The Charles Bravo case
- Suits
- Clever, note-taking tables. Classic whodunnit
- Best for
- Dinner parties
- Difficulty
- Easy to moderate
- Acting
- None needed. Short lines to read where the story needs them
- You need
- A TV or laptop, and a phone each
- Delivery
- Instant access. Printable pack included
- The host
- Plays the victim, then runs the inquiry
- Price
- A$39, one payment
- Content
- Real people are portrayed. Involves a poisoning, a family ruined by a lawsuit, and a suicide in the backstory. The killer in the game is invented; every real person at the table is innocent.
The Priory is a new house doing an impression of an old one, fresh paint and imported stone, hedged in thick enough to keep Balham on the far side of the gate. Upstairs a young husband has been taken ill and will not be coming down again. Downstairs the household waits in its good clothes and is unfailingly helpful. Every person under this roof has a version of the evening they will hand you gladly, and a second one they will not. Ask about the wine. Ask who slept where. Ask why the doctor was sent for so late.
That is as much as the file will give you. The rest arrives on the night, one piece of evidence at a time, and nobody at your table sees the whole of it until the last act.
What you get
Fully scripted evening
Every act cued, every scene set, your lines where you need them. No prep, no printing, no experience required.
Clues arrive in stages
Evidence and private dossiers drop to your guests' phones as the night unfolds, one act at a time.
You play the victim
Set the table, welcome your guests, then haunt the evening while they work out who wanted you gone.
6 to 12 players
A core cast carries the case, with flexible roles as your table grows. Latecomers can join as observers.
App-hosted
The case runs from any screen in the room. Your TV is the stage, the phones are the wings.
Charles Bravo, a young barrister, died at The Priory in Balham, south London, in April 1876, after several days of illness. An inquest found that he had been poisoned. Nobody was ever charged, and the case is disputed to this day, with no account of that evening accepted by everybody.
The game reopens the case and reaches a solution of its own. Knowing the history will not spoil your night, and history does not decide the verdict at your table. Your guests do.
These were real people and real deaths. The file is written with that in mind: we reopen the questions, not the graves.
Take it to trial.
This case can end at the reveal, or it can go to trial: the person your table accused stands in the dock, your guests become the jury, and nobody learns who really did it until the verdict is in. The trial is invented: an alternative ending, clearly labelled as one, and not the historical record.
The trial for Poisoned at the Priory is coming soon. Trials are released case by case, starting with The Masque at Carfax Hall. When it arrives, the trial can also be played on its own, as a jury case.
Reopen Poisoned at the Priory.
Host it at your own table. Nothing to print, no script to learn, and you play the victim, so you finally get to attend your own party.