Sci-fi epic War of the Worlds comes to Lancaster as you've never seen it before

An ambitious retelling of HG Wells' iconic science fiction tale War of the Worlds will open at a Lancaster theatre next month.

Theatre company imitating the dog will present the show, starring Bonnie Baddoo, Morgan Bailey, Gareth Cassidy and Amy Dunn, at The Dukes from February 18 to 21.

War of the Worlds is an apocalyptic tale of alien invasion and the unfolding destruction of everything we hold dear.

Using miniature environments, model worlds, camera tricks and projection, imitating the dog will mix the live and the recorded, the animate and the inanimate to create a thrilling, audacious and timely retelling of H. G. Wells’s classic novel.

Below, the cast of War of the Worlds

“I am so excited to be working on our adaptation of War of the Worlds," said Andrew Quick, Co-Director and Artistic Director of imitating the dog.

"It’s a great story, and its themes of paranoia, moral panic, technological and ecological catastrophe, and the ways in which society implodes when faced with crisis, seem so relevant to today. 

"It’s a story of immense intensity and adapting the novel produces some difficult challenges. 

"We are testing our technological and storytelling skills to the limit but producing some amazing sequences that do justice to the novel, but which also connect to contemporary concerns. 

"We have been exploring how to combine live green screen acting with miniature model worlds to create a live movie that is created in front of the audience. 

"Imagine a detailed model of a destroyed city: you see a performer operate a camera that moves through its devastated buildings. 

"At the same time, in another part of the stage, you see a live performer being filmed and the image of their performance is then projected into the city landscape, so you see them looking out of one of the windows in one of its burnt out buildings. 

"This interlacing of the live and the miniature, the real and the model, is a new direction for us, but it creates some stunning effects. 

"And we need these effects to create the extraordinary, compelling and epic story that we are telling – all with just four performers. 

"Of all productions across 27 years of theatre making, this is the most ambitious and technologically challenging work that we have made. I really can’t wait to see how audiences react.”

The production’s creative team will feature set and costume design by Abby Clarke (Unfortunate - The Untold Story, national tour), projection and video design by Simon Wainwright (The Kid Stays in the Picture, Royal Court), lighting by Andrew Crofts (Trash Cuisine, Belarus Free Theatre and The Young Vic) and original music composed by James Hamilton (Night of The Living Dead ™ - Remix, imitating the dog). 

War of the Worlds is supported by Lancaster Arts and Cast, Doncaster

Tickets can be booked HERE.