The Necronomicon Providence 2015: Part 1

Friday

Due to work and traffic I was unable to arrive for any of the lectures on Friday. Upon arrival I checked in, decided to hit up two of the evening events, and killed time at the Lovecraft Grand Emporium before my first event.

My first event that night was “The Call of Cthulhu” as adapted and performed by David Neilsen. We entered a lecture hall where a chalkboard with a hastily scrawled “Weclome Dr. Angell” served as our centerpiece. I was early so I chatted with some of the people around me and then, suddenly, a door to my left burst open and a man ran in. Even though he wore a nice tan suit and was carrying a briefcase, everything about him screamed of disheveled. He peered out the windows in fear before he turned around and took in his audience. Finally, realization coming over his countenance, he composed himself and stepped to the front by the chalkboard. What followed was his relation of a tale about the great and powerful Cthulhu and the effect it the events have had upon his life.

The acting was well done and Mr. Neilsen’s adaptation managed to capture the feel of Lovecraft’s most famous story. Since it stood as a one man show, minor adjustments were made to the plot for the sake of flow and to add a sense of foreboding. The lecture setup and inclusion of the audience into the storyline added an extra sense of urgency to the proceedings which I greatly appreciated. All in all, this was a fantastic way to start off the NecronomiCon and it was only due to get better.

Second up on the agenda was “Dark Adventure Radio Theatre Presents: ‘Dagon: War of Worlds’”. A group of men took to the stage and the sound of radio static was heard crackling throughout the room. The announcer came on and told us we would be hearing a radio adaptation of Lovecraft’s “Dagon”, but first we were treated to a peppy cast member advertising Bub-L-Pep (the L stands for lithium). As the show began, the transmission was interrupted by reports of strange aquatic beings coming out of the water in San Francisco to attack mankind. What followed was a hilarious and fast paced hybrid of “Dagon” and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” with a little of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” thrown in for good measure that had cast members jumping up from their chairs to take on multiple roles within the play.

As a Lovecraft fan, and a huge fan of Welles’ “War of the Worlds”, I really enjoyed what was offered. References to Lovecraft’s work ran rampant and no Zadok Allen was safe. Even though it was a live radio show, we may as well have been watching a play as the actors not only provided different voices, but also varied their mannerisms from character to character.

So far, I was very impressed with what the NecronomiCon had to offer and I had not even seen one of their famous lectures yet. After the contact high this show gave me, I decided to retire for the night.

Tune in tomorrow for tales of wine, racism, and an ancient curse.