Please read the overview and all the descriptions of the suspects before the party. Sometimes we hide clues in these descriptions.

Overview

It’s the year 2900. They’ve mastered time travel, but they still don’t know the secret to a good relationship. So they’ve gone back in time and have gathered some famous couples. They’ve brought them to the future to research and they have put them in a room behind one-way glass. They’ve given them some things to discuss and they are observing how they behave.

You must unravel the mystery of what makes a good relationship. The couples that are the most united will be allowed to stay here in the future. This could really be a benefit to some of them, because they could take advantage of the great medical advances that have taken place. But not all of the chosen couples will want to stay. So your job is to work out which will stay.

The suspects

The suspects present at the party are:

Cleopatra

I’m the Pharaoh of Egypt. Although I am of Greek origin, I do know how to speak Egyptian. When Caesar was in charge, I snuck in to meet him by coming in rolled in a carpet. My plan worked and he allowed me to resume the throne. My son Caesarion is the son of Julius Caesar. Since his assassination, I have married Marcus Antonius. We have three children. Dress suggestions: Wear a toga and a fancy headpiece. Wear a black wig. If you want you can carry a basket with a fake snake in it.

Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony)

I am a Roman politician and general. Now I help rule Egypt with Cleopatra. Julius Caesar was my friend and also my mother’s cousin. I proved my competency as a leader during the Gallic Wars. And when Caesar was assassinated, I read the eulogy during his funeral and at the same time, removed his toga so that all would see that he had been murdered and I told the audience of his assassins, so that they were then forced to flee for their lives. Cleopatra and I have three children. Dress suggestions: Wear a toga. Carry a sword.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie

I am a Polish physicist and chemist. I originally studied at Warsaw’s clandestine Floating or Flying University and I began my practical scientific training in Poland. I am the first person to be honored by receiving two Nobel Prizes – one for chemistry and the other for physics. I am the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and I am also the first woman to be a professor at the University of Paris. I discovered radioactivity and I also coined the term for it. Dress suggestions: Wear a white lab coat and carry a test tube or something similar.

Pierre Curie

I am a French physicist. I discovered the effect of temperature on paramagnetism. These people of the future tell me that this is now known as Curie’s law and that the material constant is known as the Curie constant. And that the temperature transition, above which the substances lose their ferromagnetic behavior, is now known as the Curie point. Later I decided to help my wife with her studies and together we were given a Novel Prize for our physics research. Dress suggestions: Wear a white lab coat and carry a magnet.

Frida Kahlo

My full name is Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón. I am a Mexican surrealist artist. I am most well known for my self-portraits. I have suffered from polio since I was six years old. And when a teenager I was involved in a bus accident and this has caused me lifelong pain and suffering and I have had over 35 operations. I took up painting after the accident. Dress suggestions: Wear a white shirt and a long colorful skirt, a black wig and carry a palette of paints.

Diego Rivera

My full name is Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez. I am a Mexican painter of murals. I have also been asked to paint a number of murals in the USA. I have children by previous wives. I am a staunch socialist and atheist and because of this some people have not appreciated my art. Dress suggestions: Wear colorful Mexican clothes and carry a palette of paints.

Bonnie Parker

I am a well-known outlaw. I’m from Texas but our gang travels mainly around the central parts of the US. It’s the midst of the Great Depression, but I suppose most of you won’t say that’s any excuse. We’ve killed a bunch of people, but we never set out to that. I like writing poems and because of my fame, some of them have actually been published. Dress suggestions: Wear 1930s clothes (dark colors, bonnet and long skirt). If you want, you can carry a cigar and a cardboard cutout of a gun (no real ones please).

Clyde Barrow

My full name is Clyde Chestnut Barrow. I suppose you’d call me an outlaw. I’m also from Texas. We’ve only been together a couple of years, but they’ve been wild action packed years. Dress suggestions: Wear 1930s clothes (sports jacket and pants). If you want, you can carry a cardboard cutout of a gun (no real ones please).

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I am a poet. I am the eldest of 12 children and I started writing poetry and 6 or 8 years of age. Although I now live in Italy, I am popular in England and the United States. I have suffered from a mysterious illness since I was 15. I met Robert after he wrote to me in praise of my poetry. I was delighted when he wanted to marry me as I am six years his senior. Dress suggestions: Wear clothes from the Victorian era (eg long hooped skirts). Carry some of your poetry.

Robert Browning

I am a poet and playwright. Although my wife has gained more fame than I have, some have appreciated my dramatic monologues. I also started writing poetry when young. Elizabeth and I had to elope because her father didn’t want any of his children to marry. That’s also why he disinherited her. The people of the future tell me that I did finally publish a 12-book poem later in my life that did bring me some renown. Dress suggestions: Wear clothes from the Victorian era (eg a formal suit). Carry some of your written work.

Pearl Bailey

I started off in nightclubs as a singer and dancer and doing vaudeville but ended up in Broadway musicals, and in movies. I had a top ten hit song in the 1950s. In the 70s I had my own TV show. I was even appointed America’s Ambassador of Love in 1970 by Richard Nixon. Dress suggestions: Wear a black wig and a glamorous stage outfit.

Louie Bellson

My real name is Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni. I’m a jazz drummer. I’m also a composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator, and I pioneered the use of two bass drums. I performed with Benny Goodman and with Duke Ellington. Later I became Pearl’s musical director. Dress suggestions: Wear a suit and carry a drum and/or a drum stick.

Annie Oakley

My real name is Phoebe Ann Moses. I’m an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. I ended up starring in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. One of my tricks, which everyone seems to love, is that I can repeatedly split a playing card, edge-on, and put several more holes in it before it touches the ground, using a rifle at 90 feet. Dress suggestions: Wear a cowboy hat, a coat with tassles, a longish skirt and carry a cardboard cutout of a rifle (no real ones please).

Francis (Frank) Butler

I’m an Irish immigrant and I was a dog trainer before I became a traveling show marksman. I placed a huge bet with a hotel owner that I could beat any local fancy shooter. But Annie beat me and she was only 15 and 5 feet tall. So I decided to marry her. We performed together and later I became her manager. Dress suggestions: Wear a cowboy outfit and carry a cardboard cutout of a rifle (no real ones please).

Abigail Adams

I’m the wife of the president. John and I often discuss politics. I am an advocate of married women’s property rights and I believe there should be more opportunities for women, particularly in the field of education. Women, I believe, should not submit to laws not made in their interest, nor should they be content with the simple role of being companions to their husbands. They should educate themselves and thus be recognized for their intellectual capabilities, so they can guide and influence the lives of their children and husbands. Dress suggestions: Wear your hair tied back in a large bow or wear a bonnet, pearls and a long dress.

John Adams

I’m the second president of the United States of America. I believe in the “Enlightenment” values of reforming society and advancing knowledge. I am a federalist, and I am one of the key Founding Fathers of the United States, having helped convince the Congress to pass the Declaration of Independence. Dress suggestions: Wear a white wig or powder your hair (as was the fashion for men at this time). Wear a long coat, long socks, and knee length britches. Add a few pillows to make yourself more rounded.