tamaranth: me, in the sun (Default)
tamaranth ([personal profile] tamaranth) wrote2014-10-23 12:59 pm
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[theatre] Welcome to Night Vale, Union Chapel, 20-Oct-14

"Fear is like a library book: put it in a place you can find it when you need it, but don't carry it with you." An especially apposite thought as this show was about a Librarian on the loose: we were invited to imagine that we were in a theatre where the Librarian lurked, chitinous and tentacled, et cetera. I scream, you scream, we all scream. For Cecil.

I was surprised at how well the Night Vale experience worked as a live show. It's basically a 90-minute monologue, with occasional appearances by the supporting cast (ex-Mayor Pamela Winchell, intern Richard, and others). Cecil Baldwin carries it consummately: wow, that man's voice. Truly bardic, especially with alliterations such as 'pink pulpy piles of post-existence'.

And the whole experience was awesome, from the queue outside (right round the block) which was enlived (in our vicinity) by multiple hooded figures (some of 'em in the Not A Dog Park), a Glow Cloud (the effulgent Ludi) and a five-headed dragon. Also [personal profile] dougs. The Union Chapel is a perfect venue for the show: I'd never been there before. And the ambience was delightful. The audience was predominantly young and female – the five rows in front of us (including ours) were 70%-100% women.

We learnt about scissor fog, cryptotoxicology and (in my case) that pew-shelves are not secure places for your phone if the person in front of you is excited about something. It was --

But as the sponsor of the week said, 'please don't ruin it with adjectives'.

The weather (and opening support) was provided by Mary Epworth, who has a nice voice but did not especially engage me.

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