An interactive play at Verdmont will bring the 1920s to life this weekend.

Those who go, should expect to learn a thing or two about Johnnie Bread — it’s at the centre of Adam Gauntlett’s historically based drama.

“It’s about Lillian Joell who was the last person to live at Verdmont,” he said.

“In the narrative, she has an excellent recipe for Johnnie Bread and the two main characters are desperate to get hold of it. They keep finding bits scattered through the house.”

The Bermuda National Trust and Memory Lane productions are putting on the play. Mr Gauntlett, who stars in it alongside Jennifer Campbell and Claudia Hall, got the idea from a BNT collaboration with Live History. The Canadian theatre group put on a series of shows at historic Verdmont in March.

“Johnnie Bread gives a brief introduction of not just the house but the history and Bermuda in general,” he said. “A lot of it is based on the works of [the late historian and BNT executive director] William Zuill. It’s historically anchored. As far as the idea, I helped the Live History people and got the concept from them when they performed here.”

Coming up with a script was also a fairly easy task.

“I’ve been writing for a very long time and involved with [the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society] for ten years,” Mr Gauntlett said. “From a writing point of view, I’m fairly well anchored. And so I said there was no reason [Live History-type shows] couldn’t happen more often.”

Audiences will be given clues to solve the play’s riddles. They are also able to question the cast should they need help.

“This one definitely has something to solve, but it won’t break your brain,” Mr Gauntlett said. “It should last anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes. It all depends on how much interaction the audience wants to have with the players. We had a long discussion about hosting the play at Tucker House — and we may do it there in the future — but it ended up at Verdmont because it was a little more central.”

Dõrte Horsfield, the BNT education director, said the charity hoped to host more performances in the future. “The thought was to offer [events] more often in our historic houses,” she said.

“We try to offer different ways to attract people into our historic properties rather than just coming to view them. It’s a beautiful, historic setting. We’ll have candlelight. We’ll have wine And the audience will meander through the rooms in search of the recipe.”

• Johnnie Bread runs on Thursday and Friday at 7pm. Saturday’s shows are at 4pm and 6.30pm. Tickets are $40 for members, $45 for non-members and $20 for students. Buy them at bnt.bm, 236-6483 or palmetto@bnt.bm.