An evening of poetry, music, food, and drinks outdoors in Newport Beach.

Experienced: August 6, 2017
Location: Undisclosed
Address: Newport Beach, CA
Price: Free-$20 (dependent on subscription tier)
Audience Size: About 40
Runtime: 3 hours
More Information: Sudden Loneliness Gift, Instagram

This outdoor event took place in the evening hours in a lovely backyard of a home in Newport Beach as the sun was setting. All of the attendees were split into 3 different groups based on our the first letter of our first name and we were assigned staggered entry (5pm, 5:10pm, and 5:15pm) into the venue.

As we entered Jason, Chelsea, Buoy, and the owners of the home welcomed us to the evening. One strange thing that occurred was Jason seemed to have forgotten the names of some of the attendees. It’s a good thing Chelsea was there to jog his memory for a few of us. One commonality between those Jason had forgotten is they had experienced trauma in recent one off pop-up events. There is speculation that The Luna Company is somehow related to this memory loss.

The night was split into three distinct performances. The first were poems (written?) and performed by Buoy. The second were songs performed by Sara (official singer for Nocturnal Fandango!) & Erez. And the last were poems written and performed by Jason.

One of the most exciting things about immersive theater is not having a clue as to what you’re walking into. Usually the descriptions are vague and, especially for one off pop-up events, there aren’t any reviews or word of mouth to go off of. I think this show could have benefitted from more information beforehand as it played out like a concert. I commend Nocturnal Fandango for trying something different and new.

Jason’s emotive performance evoked some memories of pieces of Have You Seen Jake? and I’m sure a few of us were concerned about the cops being called on the performance since he was extremely animated. The night ended with a rousing rendition of Oh Susannah/You Little Shit– a twisted poem interspersed with the song Oh Susannah.