![\"Amateur](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sut-l-stage-davinci2.jpg\")
Amateur sleuths track down clues in the immersive theater adventure \u201cDecoding DaVinci,\u201d which opens June 4 on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla. (ArtPower)<\/p>\nFollowing upon the success of last summer\u2019s immersive theater event \u201cClue: A Walking Mystery\u201d at UC San Diego, another sleuthing adventure on the La Jolla college campus is about to begin.<\/p>\n
ArtPower at UCSD is collaborating once again with New York theater producer Kevin J. Hammonds on a new site-specific interactive show that will premiere next Thursday.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s hands-only mystery-solving show was inspired by the board game \u201cClue.\u201d This summer\u2019s show is inspired by Italian Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci and a mystery involving a secret society known as the 7 Pillars.<\/p>\n
Part scavenger hunt, part immersive theater, part outdoor escape room, \u201cDecoding DaVinci\u201d will send groups of seven ticket-holders out on a clue-solving adventure across the UCSD campus to ultimately uncover the identity of the newest member of the 7 Pillars.<\/p>\n
Amateur sleuths track down clues in the immersive theater adventure \u201cDecoding DaVinci,\u201d which opens June 4 on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla. (ArtPower)<\/p>\n
Armed with an adventure kit, participants are summoned to a secret location where they\u2019re tasked with deciphering cryptic codes, uncovering hidden symbols, navigating shifting alliances and outwit enemies and operatives stationed around the campus.<\/p>\n
UCSD worked with Hammonds and his team to create \u201cDecoding DaVinci\u201d specifically for the sprawling La Jolla campus.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Decoding DaVinci\u2019 was a concept that had been floating around my brain for a few years, but it wasn\u2019t until I got to know the campus during last year\u2019s \u2018Clue: A Walking Mystery\u2019 that it started to come together,\u201d said Hammonds. \u201cThe UC San Diego campus is like a universe unto itself with unique and fascinating worlds at every turn. There were so many cool sculptures and pieces of architecture that screamed to be turned into a puzzle. It was the perfect place to launch this new experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colleen Kollar Smith, executive director of UCSD\u2019s campus performances and events office, said UCSD\u2019s tree- and art-filled campus is the perfect landscape for a walking adventure.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast summer\u2019s \u2018Clue: A Walking Mystery\u2019 showed us what\u2019s possible when brilliant puzzle designers and storytellers meet a campus as culturally rich as UC San Diego. Those designers loved our campus so much that they have designed \u2018Decoding DaVinci,\u2019 an original world premiere experience, around it, and UC San Diego is honored to be its launch,\u201d Kollar Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe arts here don\u2019t just happen in traditional venues; they activate the spaces around us and pull audiences into the storytelling. \u2018Decoding DaVinci\u2019 will do exactly that, turning our campus into a living world of mystery for audiences to unravel and solve.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will also be the perfect way for players to discover UC San Diego, or to explore parts of campus they may not yet have had a reason to visit. We can\u2019t wait to share this experience with our guests,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tickets to \u201cDecoding DaVinci\u201d will be sold in groups, with a maximum of seven people on each sleuthing team. Up to 11 teams will head out to explore on each of the performance days, Thursdays-Sundays.<\/p>\n
\u2018Decoding DaVinci\u2019<\/p>\n
When: Previews, Thursday through June 14. Opens June 18 and runs through July 19. Tickets will be sold in groups of seven, with up to 11 tours a day beginning at 2 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n
Where: UC San Diego campus La Jolla<\/p>\n
Tickets: $30-$40<\/p>\n