Keystone 1889 to host A Bloody Dickens Christmas with Bryan Cutts

"It's like dress-ups again," he says. "People like being a kid. If they're given permission to be a kid, they'll be a kid."

Mr Cutts is preparing for a Dickens-themed murder-mystery at Keppel Street's historic Keystone 1889 this weekend, but his repertoire also includes the 1920s, steampunk and Harry Potter.

"One of the most popular is the Gatsby-esque one and that one obviously brings all the feather boas out and all the sequins and all of that," he said.

"But, of course, that's the era of flappers and so you've got the string dress and you get lots of variations on the original string dress.

"But there was one year that a girl had actually dug out of her grandmother's wardrobe an original '20s flapper dress. I'd never seen one in my life until this particular murder.

"I looked at her and I said: 'That's an original, isn't it?'

"So people go to extremes."

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A Bloody Dickens Christmas will be held at Keystone 1889 this Saturday, December 18.

Dinner guests, who will be dressing up as one of the popular characters from Dickens stories including Bleak House, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, will be allocated a character when they book their tickets, along with costume suggestions.

Seated in tables of 10, they will be guided through the grisly story and clues pertaining to the crime by Mr Cutts.

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He says everyone will be playing detective, trying to uncover the killer, while at the same time establishing alibis for themselves, because ultimately someone at each table is a murderer.

"It's so much fun. It's a great way to let your hair down," he said of the murder-mystery events, which he has been hosting for more than 10 years.

"If you have hair, unlike me."

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