The story
Thousands of traders arrived every day with cloth, cacao, obsidian, salt, chiles, feathers, corn and beans. Nothing was bought here: everything was cleverly negotiated.
A rumor runs through the aisles: the emperor is watching, and only the shrewdest, fairest and most prosperous merchants will win his favor.
How it works
Each table receives a bag of cacao beans — the event's currency — and two or three starting ingredients. To complete its dinner, it must negotiate with other tables for premium ingredients (proteins, special salsas, toppings).
In “The Fair Weight” challenge, teams measure corn or beans without a scale. The table with the most cacao, the most complete dinner and the fairest strategy wins the Banner of the Tlatelolco Market.
The characters
- The Great Chief Merchant: a seasoned, charismatic and cunning trader who shifts prices and stirs up trade disputes.
- The Market Judge (Calpixqui): validates trades, settles disputes and can fine traders or confiscate cacao.
What's included
- Interactive multi-course dinner
- Starting bag of cacao beans
- Base and premium ingredients per table
- “The Fair Weight” challenge
- Two professional characters
- Pre-Hispanic market setting and a banner for the winning table
What you take home
- Experiencing how a Mesoamerican market worked
- Understanding barter and the social power of cacao
- Eating what your team managed to win
History and culture in every scene
As in all our experiences, the hosts' dialogue and the event's activities are written with real information about Mexican history and culture. You have fun and, without even noticing, you learn. The characters share real facts, dates and anecdotes from Mexican history; the fiction is there to make those facts stick.
Format and customization
“The Great Barter” is one of our immersive theater productions. We can adapt it to your venue, group size, menu and language, as a private event or on dates open to the public.
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