H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds might be the most popular science fiction story ever. The battle between aliens and puny earthlings has been produced so many times and in so many versions that it's hard to count. It hit the screen in 1953 in an Academy Award-winning Paramount...
The War of the Worlds.might be the most popular science fiction story ever. The battle between aliens and puny earthlings has been produced so many times and in so many versions that it's hard to count. It hit the screen in 1953 in an Academy Award-winning Paramount movie, then was remade in 2005 by Steven Spielberg as an epic CGI prestidigitation, starring Tom Cruise with an annoyingly screechy performance by Dakota Fanning as his daughter.
But in the most legendary version of Wells' extraterrestrial invasion, we never saw aliens, their deadly rays, or civilization crumbling. We only heard it. That would be, of course, Orson Welles' infamous radio broadcast on Halloween eve, 1938. Presented through his own Mercury Theatre on the Air for CBS, his one-hour show , wife Jane , the Curate , and the paranoid Artillery Man . You might ask, why is the Curate played by a woman? I don't know.
In succinct scenes, introduced by chapter headings from Wells' novel, such as “The Last Dinner,” “The Fight Begins,” “The Shape of Things to Come,” the story unfolds with clarity and momentum. Rogojo is memorable as the everyman caught in an impossible and frightful situation. His voice has a edge to it that makes him seem particularly vulnerable. George and Jane narrate the story, and curiously they sometimes do so in muffled and distant voice-over, which adds nothing to the telling.
But the stars of the show are sound designer Jon Harvey and lighting designer/video editor Edgar Guajardo. What atmosphere they bring to this otherworldly tale. The play thrums and beeps and burrows under your skin. When we see an etching of a bombed out city, it's like Currier and Ives have seen the apocalypse. The background projections are indistinct and immensely creepy, accompanied by an equally chilling electric soundscape.
The War of the Worlds continues through May 1 at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 20; 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays; also 8 p.m. Monday April 2 at Classical Theatre at The Deluxe Theater, 3303 Lyons. Proof of vaccination and masks required. For more information, call 713-963-9665 or visit classicaltheatre.org. $10-$25., it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way.
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