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After the past couple of years, let’s be honest, a Martian invasion of Earth sounds almost quaint, but when “The War of the Worlds” hit the radio airwaves in 1938, some of the listening audience thought little green men really had arrived to take over.
Stanford Live presents a unique drama by London-based Rhum and Clay Theatre Company, inspired by Orson Welles’ hair-raising radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ sci-fi novel, “The War of the Worlds” — and the panic of some listeners who thought it was real. Mars will attack on Oct. 28 and 29, 7:30 p.m at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall.
The in-person play written by Isley Lynn offers a dramatic, imaginative staging of Welles’ broadcast intertwined with the story of a present-day podcaster — each playing with what’s truth and what’s fiction. As the program notes point out, the late 1930s were a fraught time, from World War II looming in Europe to the fiery crash of the Hindenburg airship, events which may have primed listeners to expect catastrophe. Likewise, in capturing the present-day mood, though the play was created in 2016, there was already plenty on everyone’s minds even pre-pandemic.
Although the particular crisis portrayed in “The War of the Worlds” probably isn’t something most of us have lost sleep over, the show offers plenty of ideas likely to resonate with modern audiences, including an exploration of what we choose to believe and why, especially in troubling times.
For more information, visit live.stanford.edu.
