Recommended
Banquet Seating for Mystery Dinner Shows
TWO GOLDEN RULES
for setting up Mystery Dinners:
-
Yardstick Rule:
at least 36" of space behind each chair
and the next nearest chair back, wall, or support column.
-
Note-Taking Rule:
Allow 6" space between place settings so
guests can jot notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports.
ABOVE:
Smaller sized group of
36 guests. Note the
comfortable spacing of only 6 persons per table. You need to know the round
table diameters at your banquet venue first before deciding on how many tables
you will need. Round top tables
most often range from 44", to 60" to 72". Double-check
what sizes your venue uses.
ABOVE:
Slightly larger group of
49 guests.
Note the only difference in this seating layout is the addition of ONE
GUEST MORE per table. As long as there is still a comfortable space of
6" between place settings, the above layout is okay.
ABOVE:
Large group of
105 guests. An additional pair
of PA speakers may be needed to disperse the sound of the actor's dialogue
more evenly around the room at a lower volume. This "7 TOP" setup is
comfortable as long as the table diameter is 72", OR as long as there is
still a comfortable space of 6" between place settings.
ABOVE:
Largest seating layout with
147 guests. We recommend no larger than about 175 guests in order to ensure the
intimacy of the mystery play. However, larger groups are possible with a few
upgrades of Audio-Visual equipment and more support personnel to operate
small pinspot lights and live video camera playback on one or more Big
Screens projectors.
Photo comparisons between Good and Bad Table
Setups . . .
First photos show BAD
examples for mystery dinner setups.
The second group of photos show GOOD set up examples.
BAD Table Setup below:
Here is a BAD EXAMPLE of banquet seating
that is WAY TOO TIGHT!! In the first photo of cream white linens, there
are several problems: 1) Actor's won't be able to move,
2)
Waiters will
be bumping into the backs of guests heads and chairs throughout entire
dinner,
3)
Guests will get claustrophobic after an hour, and
4)
There is
no room to write notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports.
BELOW ARE BAD EXAMPLES:
The red chair setups below are how MANY
banquet rooms set their tables. See how crowded and uncomfortable the
guests will be? They can't even get in or out of their chairs without
making guests on either side have to move their chairs, knees and legs.
There is no room between place settings, and no 6" space between
place settings to take notes on their 6" X 9" detective reports.
The third photo
(center below)
shows a bar setup
eating up space dead center in
the room. This is fine for regular functions, but it is WRONG for a murder mystery dinner!
The bar
should be at one end of the room or the other. Your guests need to all
feel like they are part of the same group and they should not be split
up by a
bar or a dance floor. If your guests are separated, group psychology
takes over: one side of the room feels left out of the
action and so guests begin gabbing. This will distract
the rest of the audience and interfere with the actors' show.
BELOW
LEFT:
Bad Table and chair
setups for mystery shows. The 4-top tables stretched out into a long row
along the windows alienate the guests. Actors will be hard to see and
hear.
RIGHT:
Conference tables don't work
because all you see is the ear of the person on your right or left side;
not the actor who is speaking 6 chairs away from you on your side of the table!
BELOW LEFT:
Avoid
using Tall Top cocktail tables or rectangle tables for Mystery
dinners. Tall tops seat the guests too high in the room. You can only
fit 2 or 3 place settings per table. Also, the guests and actors who
stand to speak are all on the same plane and your guests can't see
through all the heads!
RIGHT:
Rectangle banquet tables block the
view of guests trying to look left or right at the actors seated on the
same side of the table they are at. Rectangle tables mean that all your
guests will be looking at the ears of their neighbor sitting on either
side of them.
BELOW:
GOOD EXAMPLES of banquet seating that is
comfortable for a murder mystery dinner setting.
ABOVE:
Outstanding room setup for Murder Mystery show!! Only flaw: gaudy
flower centerpieces will block the view of actor's faces at certain times
during the play.
ABOVE:
Note the space between place settings. These four tables give
all the guests comfortable viewing angles and room to relax.
ABOVE:
The seating and table layout is good,
although the ceiling lighting was actually brighter and more functional
during the Mystery Play so that all the guests could see the actor's faces
as well as be able to see the notes on detective reports they were
writing. Thos photo was taken after the room lights were dimmed for a Live Variety Act
that performed after the
mystery play ended.
ABOVE:
Both table and
chair setups here are passable for a murder mystery dinner party. When rectangle tables
are THE ONLY CHOICE for 30 or less guests, then the
inside chairs closest to the middle aisle can be more sparsely spread out.
This way, people won't have to keep turning 180 degrees to
see behind them. Photo on right side is a perfect setting
for a small party of 40 or less guests.
