It’s Friday the 13th, just weeks before Halloween, and there’s no better place to celebrate than at The Westport Library — and with Fireside Mystery Theatre.
On October 13 in the Library’s Trefz Forum, Fireside Mystery Theatre, the award-winning audio theatre production company, will premiere Nightfall on the Nutmeg State, a set of original pieces written for The Westport Library.
Fireside Mystery Theatre performs unique shows reminiscent of the old-time radio mysteries of the 1930s. The troupe’s actors will read live on stage, in full costume, each standing in front of a mic and with scripts in hand. The live performance will be recorded and later featured on Fireside Mystery Theatre’s podcast feed, which has reached millions of listeners around the world — bridging the gap between the Golden Age of Radio and the podcast era.
Tickets are $20, and the event serves as the precursor to StoryFest, the Library’s annual literary festival, which runs October 20-22 featuring Neil Gaiman, Angie Kim, Gabino Iglesias, Caroline Kepnes, Eric LaRocca, Josh Malerman, and many more.
“We are so excited to be able to team with the brilliant minds at Fireside Mystery Theatre to bring this special production to the Library,” said Bill Harmer, Westport Library executive director. “They are the perfect partner for a library — delivering storytelling in its purest form, well-timed for Friday the 13th and a week ahead of StoryFest.”
Nightfall on the Nutmeg State is comprised of four unique stories, performed by an ensemble cast with live underscoring and three music performances. The stories are as follows:
Fireside Mystery Theatre invites all to come to this special show: “Thrill to an evening of strange sights, sounds, and stories specially sourced from Connecticut's darkest local myths, mysteries, and legends. Fireside Mystery Theatre's cadre of actors, musicians, and technicians will amaze you as they conjure unforgettable stories etched in sound — where the real meets the fantastic and the ordinary joins the bizarre.”
“We relish in thrilling and chilling our audiences wherever we go,” said Fireside Mystery Theatre presenter and actor Ali Silva. “But we especially look forward to this privilege of hand-delivering to the fine folk of Connecticut a lovingly crafted evening of our peculiar brand of dark and delightful entertainment.”
Led by co-creators and producers Silva and Gustavo Rodriguez, Fireside Mystery Theatre has been lauded by numerous outlets for its inventive storytelling and throwback feel. That includes Popsugar, which called Fireside Mystery Theatre one of the “10 scary podcasts to listen to on a dark and stormy night,” and The New York Times, which cited Fireside Mystery Theatre as one of the top five podcasts to bring into your home when theaters went dark in 2020.
“The episodes feature sound effects, musical acts, and a fully improvised score to bring the nostalgia to its fullest,” noted The New York Times. “Each play also brings a laugh and a chill as the group’s specialty is the eerie and macabre.”
For more on Fireside Mystery Theatre, visit its website at firesidemysterytheatre.com. And click here to purchase tickets to the special event at the Library on Friday, October 13.
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Event Information:
Fireside Mystery Theatre — LIVE at The Westport Library!
Friday, October 13
6:30-9 pm
Trefz Forum, The Westport Library
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Recommended Reading from Fireside Mystery Theatre:
The Devil's Rooming House by M. William Phelps
Clown: My Life in Tatters and Smiles by Emmett Kelly
Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P. T. Barnum
The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy by Stewart O’Nan
The Speculative Fiction of Mark Twain
Legendary Connecticut: Traditional Tales from the Nutmeg State by David E. Philips
