The War of the Worlds (Modern Plays)

No-one would have believed in the early years of the twentieth century that this world was being watched... There is nothing more alluring than a good story. When Orson Welles adapted The War of the Worlds, he wanted to create a thrilling radio drama that would ‘feel’ real. In fact, it felt so real that it caused hysteria amongst a public just getting used to the outside world invading their living rooms via the radio. Fast forward to 2016, and the internet has replaced the radio as the medium through which we make sense of the world. We remain just as susceptible … Inspired by H.G. Wells’ sci-fi novel and Orson Welles’ classic radio play, this legendary science fiction thriller is playfully reimagined as a play by Isley Lynn for our era of Fake News and ‘alternative facts’.

Isley Lynn is an American-born, London-based playwright and poet. They won the 'Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright Award' at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2023 for their play The Swell, which opened to great acclaim as part of Tom Littler's first season at the Orange Tree Theatre and was also nominated for Best New Play, Best Director and Best Production at the 2023 Offie Awards. Their play Skin a Cat was awarded Pick of the Year at the Vault Festival 2016 and its production at The Bunker later that year led to four nominations for Off West End Awards including Most Promising New Playwright and Best New Play; it then toured nationally in 2018. Other credits include: The War of the Worlds (New Diorama Theatre 2019, international tour 2021); 'Canace' in 15 Heroines (Jermyn Street Theatre 2020); Albatross (Paines Plough and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama at Bute Theatre and Gate Theatre 2018); The Swell (HighTide First Commissions play reading 2018); Sie und Wir (Us and Them) for Werk X in Vienna (2016); Tether (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015); and What's So Special (as part of The Get Out at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs 2014). Her play Bright Nights was a Script6 winner at The Space in 2014.

Rhum + Clay is an award-winning theatre company led by co-Artistic Directors, Julian Spooner and Matt Wells. They desire to make work that ignites the audience's imagination on regional, national, and international stages. Everything that Rhum + Clay produces is developed collaboratively; from set designers to writers, performers and sound artists, everyone is together from day one to offer opinions and build the show together. Off-stage, their education programme is an extension of that creative process, celebrating the unique skills of each participant whilst giving them tools to create better theatre, collaboratively. Their hope is that many of the workshop participants will become future collaborators.