EDITOR’S NOTE: Since publication of this article, several allegations of sexual assault and abuse have come to light against one of the creators of Nocturnal Fandango. We at HorrorBuzz believe that horror and immersive experiences should be a safe space for everyone, and can longer recommend their shows in good faith. We will leave the review as originally published below, but urge you to think twice before attending any of their shows.

The art of conversation is not the easiest thing in the world to master. With so many different types of people, and settings to meet them in, finding some sort of common ground to get to engage them on is challenging, and one that, seemingly no one can truly get down completely.

So when Nocturnal Fandango announced that their latest stand-alone show, NOSH, would center around conversation, I was intrigued.

You have all heard me go on before, at length, about how wonderful Nocturnal Fandango shows are, along with speaking with the team behind the group as well. Their work is incredible, and they mention to touch each of their guests in ways no other company has before.

Over this past weekend, I attended NOSH, and fell in love with them all over again. This conversation-heavy show was less about the physical aspects of immersive theater, and more about drawing you in with the spoken word. I was assigned a seemingly random assortment of scenarios, all named after some sort of food or drink. While I was assigned four, there were sixteen overall, with each guest having their own assortment from that group.

While, for the most part, the scenarios I experienced were not connected, they were all wildly different and incredibly enjoyable. The overarching theme of conversation was present in each, as I was drawn into everyone’s own personal story, while discovering just who I was in that world. Each place I visited was different; whereas I was simply a friend there to help bake a cake for one, I was also a person interviewing for the job of Sous Chef in another. They were vignettes; brief glimpses into whatever world they were in, and anchored by a good, old-fashioned conversation.

The conversations themselves ranged all over the map. But they all reenforced to me how much you could learn bout a person just by speaking to them, let alone with just their body language. This wasn’t a show where the characters spoke at you, as immersive shows sometimes do. NOSH, like all Nocturnal Fandango shows, has the characters speak with you. They talk, they listen, they respond. It really WAS conversations, and not just them getting lines out. This, to me, creates another layer of intimacy between the performer and the guests.

I’m going to touch upon Nutter Butter, the first of my vignettes, if only because I know they are not staging this particular one again, and because I would like to commend Nocturnal Fandango on it. During this section, I met X, a somewhat timid, lost, and scared man. To be honest, I feel like this section had the least amount of conversation out of them all, but X spoke volumes through his performance alone. Both he, and is companion, Lolly, gave one hell of a scene here, and one that came close to leaving me in tears.

When walking out of that sequence, I was reminded by something else that Nocturnal Fandango does well. They are able to take your perception of things, and turn it on its head. For this one in particular, I walked into a hotel room covered with plastic wrap, cookie wrappers spread all over, the entire room in disarray. I was unable to, in the moment, fully understand what was going on. However, reflecting back, I processed how they were able to take how a character viewed the world, and made that the way I physically saw that particular scenario. The fractured and somewhat scattered view that X saw the world through was exactly how I was meant to view it…even if that was not how the world ‘actually’ was.

I know, it might seem hard to follow in writing, but in execution, it was beautiful. That said, not all of these vignettes needed to be viewed in such a way; some where exactly what they were meant to be, though that didn’t make them any less powerful. Each of the four sections I saw (Nutter Butter, Marinade, Quality Street, and Mojito, with a brief visit with the hosts, T&C, in there) were incredible, and most definitely could stand on their own as standalone productions.

Ever since I began my journey with Nocturnal Fandango with Sudden Loneliness Gift, I have been impressed at how they continue to learn and grow, not just as performers but also as storytellers. NOSH was different from their normal fare, but it expanded upon their roster in many ways, and made me look forward to the things that are coming next.

And speaking of things coming next, Nocturnal Fandango will be holding a collection of experiences called 13 DAYS REMAINING, running June 8, 9, and 10, 2018. This micro-festival of shows will include some expanded versions of sections from NOSH, along with some new ones. Tickets are currently on sale, albeit very limited. If you’ve not jumped on the Nocturnal Fandango bandwagon yet, now is the time! You can thank me later.

You can purchase tickets at: https://squareup.com/store/nocturnal-fandango