Listeners of the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” can usually remove their headphones when events turn spooky. But for the Barrymore audience of the show’s live performance Oct. 8, their only option was turning to their companions.
A podcast narrated as a radio show, “Welcome to Night Vale” reports bizarre events that occur in the fictional community of the same name. Created in 2012 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, it has since garnered a strong following, becoming one of iTunes’ most downloaded podcasts.
According to Night Vale’s Cecil Baldwin, the creators took a lot of inspiration for the program from listening to late-night community radio shows and hearing about the weird incidents that were occurring around the country.
Baldwin found the lack of visual elements from the podcast as a way to invest more in the words.
“The idea is to look at a town where the people look at everyday objects like everyday things, and make them bizarre,” Baldwin said. “We desensitize ourselves to really strange things that occur in our own communities, accepting them as what they are, thus creating a parallel to illuminate our daily lives.”
Night Vale’s spooky aura has created many comparisons to other horror or sci-fi classics, such as ‘The Twilight Zone” and Stephen King’s novels. Baldwin believes these genres give insight into our own lives in a more subtle way, without being labeled as “preachy” or pandering to a certain demographic.
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At the live reading of “Welcome to Night Vale,” the portable podcast became an increasingly sensory experience.
“[The live reading] allows people to experience [the program] in a collective setting, rather than an individual setting,” Baldwin said. “It’s different sitting in a theater with 500 people, than plugging in your headphones at home.”
Within 30 minutes of opening the doors to patrons, the theater was nearly filled with fans across all age groups. From fans wearing ball gowns and twinkle lights to portray the ominous “glow cloud,” to painting on eyes and tentacles all over their bodies, the podcast had clearly created both a committed and creative fanbase.
The live reading was preceded by a musical performance by artist Dessa featuring Aby Wolf. Dessa created a strong stage presence with her chilling, smooth voice and constant movement around the stage.
Baldwin came onto the stage after Dessa, accompanied by a warm and enthusiastic welcome. He had an engaging performance, encouraging patrons to interact with one another, often asking them to make eye contact with complete strangers and point at each other.
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Throughout the show, additional characters from the podcast were brought onstage, such as Meg Bashwiner, Dylan Marron, Kevin R. Free and Symphony Sanders. Dispiration, creator of the music for the podcast, supplied the trademark soundtrack.
At the climax of the show, Baldwin picked on one audience member and accused him of being the murderer from the storyline. The audience member readily confessed to the crime.
Consequently, Baldwin asked everyone to point their fingers at him and say, “Please never murder again.”
“Welcome to Night Vale,” which was meant to illuminate our desensitized society, translated the same message on stage. But this time there was no hiding behind headphones.
From the audience’s reactions, it was clear that Night Vale isn’t a dark, twisted society — it’s a reflection of our own. Madison might do well to heed Baldwin’s haunting advice on the program:
“Remember, citizens of Night Vale: If you see something, say nothing and drink to forget.”
