Review – War of the Worlds (touring) – Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool

In reviewing this theatrical realization of War of the Worlds, it is worth clarifying that it has no association at all with Jeff Wayne’s musical version, other than in sharing the same source material (apparently there have been enquiries about this at the theatre box office!)

H.G.Wells’ extraordinarily forward-thinking 1898 science fiction novel has inspired a great many tellings and re-tellings in a variety of formats, some taking the story literally and others reading it from a variety of allegorical angles.

On this occasion, it is the innovative company Imitating the Dog who have turned their attention to the book, and it is exactly the sort of dystopian, post-apocalyptic material that they seem to thrive on. If you have seen earlier pieces by the same company you will be familiar with the overall style, in which a small group of actors, armed with a battery of video cameras, props, model boxes and miniatures, create something that is effectively ‘live cinema’. Onstage we see the players both acting and filming each other, with the feed from their cameras mixed and edited in real time onto a large screen suspended above centre stage.

In this new work, they have added more levels of video-in-video, using pre-recorded, animated backgrounds and even tiny screens hidden inside model cars to enable them to layer up the images in what is an extraordinary technical achievement.

There is a narrative framing device that explains the context of the story when we reach the end, so to avoid spoilers (which would be like naming the culprit in the Mousetrap) I will not be revealing my interpretation of the overarching concept here.

Nonetheless, it is safe to say that we begin with establishing shots that set the scene in 1968, including footage of anti-migration demonstrations and Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. It is against this backdrop that we meet Gareth Cassidy as William Travers, who becomes the embodiment of Wells’ nameless narrator. Travers, bloodied and bandaged, is being resuscitated from the brink of death by a team of medics. ECG traces pulsing around the walls, nightmarish graphics and a dramatic soundtrack plunge us down the rabbit hole with him as he emerges into a broken world in which the vestiges of civilization seem to be struggling for survival after an invasion from an unnamed enemy.

The two hours that follow (the show runs in roughly two hour-long acts separated by one interval) are a fever-dream of surreal encounters. Thinking that he has seen his wife while semi-conscious, Travers sets out to find his way home to Epsom, and beyond, via encounters including the London Underground, a deserted petrol station and a remote farm.

Along the way he meets someone who may or may not be his wife, and a series of other characters of dubious trustworthiness, all played by the remaining three cast members, Amy Dunn, Bonnie Baddoo and Morgan Bailey, the latter of whom has perhaps the most unsettling laugh since Freddy Krueger.

Further description of the plot runs dangerously into spoiler territory, but the fact that Travers’ ultimate goal appears to be to escape to France on a small boat from Dover, it’s safe to say that there are at least the ingredients of food for thought about the subject of refugees.

Seeing this show, the viewer has to constantly make decisions about what to watch. You could simply focus on the screen and follow the ‘finished’ product, or you could just watch the antics of the performers onstage as they create the work scene by scene. Most likely though, you will see a mixture of the two, and at times it is a struggle to know where to point your single pair of eyes when there is so much going on.

It is clear that the creators of this version of the story have a distinct vision in mind, and it is equally clear that it is a view that shows both the recurring relevance of Wells’ prophetic words through history and their contemporary significance. However, somewhere in between the workshop and the stage, they have become a little carried away with the creative process, with the result that the message they are looking to convey is overshadowed by the technical wizardry and physical accomplishment of it all.

Nonetheless, the creative team have put together a visual and aural feast that immerses us in a unique sensory experience, and whether the takeaway is a philosophical message or a sense of awe at the sheer audacity of the work, it is undeniably a remarkable evening of theatre.

War of the Worlds is at Liverpool Playhouse to 7th March and then continues touring with dates booking through to May.

Star rating: 3½ stars

Production Photography by Ed Waring 

 This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool