The War of the Worlds, presented by We Happy Few Theater Company at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, is a live-stage adaptation that combines H.G. Wells’s classic novel The War of the Worlds with Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air’s 1938 radio-broadcast adaptation of the book, scripted by Howard E. Koch.
Director Matt Reckeweg’s blended time capsule transports us from the era of disbelief back to the era of belief, when a clearly announced broadcast convinced listeners that a Martian invasion was really taking place in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. How did Orson Welles and company pull it off in the studio on that 30th day of October in 1938? How did they make the public believe? With sound effects, choreographed interruptions, impeccable timing, fake experts, and the reliance on trust in authority and the media.
Featured actors Jon Reynolds, Emilia Pazniokas, Rachel Menyuk, and Mike Winch make us believe through mesmerizing performances. Each of them shines in multiple roles that require them to believably embody an announcer, a reporter, government officials, a CBS vice president, a farmer, and more. I was riveted by Rachel Menyuk and Emilia Pazniokas, whose passion radiated in their chief monologues. Watching their whole-body acting gave me out-of-body chills because at some point it was as if their characters became believers. This was especially manifested in the gas mask scene. Costume designer Lee Gerstenhaber has a great eye, and the vintage tweeds, skirts, fedora, and trench coat sell the style of the time.
The spare set conceived by Patti Kalil contains a radio, record player, microphones, sound booth, and a marvelous chandelier of lights that calls to mind a spaceship. It’s a perfect mimic of the CBS studio, sans the overhead lights — all see-through except the one red “on air” bulb. This is all the actors needed for the choreography of musical interludes, somber “breaking news,” and interviews. Watching them create such mayhem from so few props was eye-opening. I will also note that the show is served well by the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop black box because it is a cozy and intimate venue. There is nowhere to hide as we experience the world being crushed by Martians!
Sound designer (and actor) Michael Winch’s sound design more than amplified the believability of the invasion that the cast portrayed. The explosions, booms, creaks, and groans gave the show a suffocating and immersive “the end is near” plausibility. A few times during the show, I closed my eyes to try to intensify my reaction even further. I recommend listening to the play as well as watching. But watching was powerful. Jason Aufdem-Brinke’s lighting design complemented the sound effects and created the effect that the world was indeed ending, if one imagines marauding aliens as the source of our demise, as opposed to other malefactors.
Director Matt Reckeweg’s time-spanning fusion is a winner, audacious in conceptualization and exceptional in execution; it’s a play perfectly timed to encourage reflecting on the fact that the 1938 broadcast is merely the analog precursor to this age of blue screens, voice manipulation, CGI, hallucinations by AI, Instagram and TikTok experts, and all manner of deepfakes (as well as how citizens react to real and perceived disasters). Moreover, the “Us vs. Them” Mentality that surfaces cuts too close to home. But if those thoughts are too disturbing, you can also sit back and succumb to a thoroughly entertaining, immersive, and gripping Halloween haunt.
Running Time: 90 minutes, with one intermission.
The War of the Worlds: The 1938 Radio Script plays through November 21, 2026, presented by We Happy Few, performing at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St SE, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets ($10–$35) online.
The program with cast and creative team credits is online here.
The War of the Worlds
The 1938 Radio Script by Howard E. Koch, based on the novel by H.G. Wells
Directed by Matt Reckeweg
Featuring Jon Reynolds, Emily Pazniokas, Rachel Menyuk, and Mike Winch
