War of the Worlds at Liverpool Everyman Review
Written by Roby for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Imitating The Dog’s production of ‘War of the Worlds’ is a technically ambitious, unique piece of theatre that is intriguing to watch. Using a cast of just four, it combines cameras, intense lighting and projection, small-scale models, and the cast’s talent to produce something very interesting.
The production is almost like a live film, and it is easy to see how some may see this concept as strange in a theatrical setting. The piece is so focused on camera trickery and delivering for a screen that, at times, it loses the magic and motive of live theatre. It’s an exciting piece of art that makes for a unique watch, but often, performance is sacrificed for production. The cast of four work tirelessly throughout the show, acting and filming, but this can create added faff that disrupts the delivery, flow and pacing of the play.
Actors quickly swap between camera operators and characters, leaving them no more than a breath after an emotional scene before they must shove a camera in another actor’s face. Even, at times, actors must continue playing their character whilst operating a camera. This completely removed them from the scene, leading to loss of emotional flow. Other scenes lacked the genuine connection of live theatre with actors playing towards the cameras rather than each other. I don’t think the cameras were a barrier for this connection, and they complemented this art form well. Perhaps instead it was the directorial choices for the actors to play towards the camera that disrupted this flow and genuineness.
Another thing that I personally didn’t think worked well was the use of props. For some reason, virtually all props were 2D and made of cardboard. Some of these looked fine on the screen, but others just looked bizarre and obviously fake. Perhaps it was for ease of disposal, as the show was fast paced, but I just didn’t think this worked.
The first half of the show was rather slick, although there were still some disruptions in flow due to quick changes between operators and characters. However, the second half had countless small inaccuracies that really ruined the performance if you noticed them. For example, three people were in a car, yet the small-scale model only showed one. Another small-scale model included a woman talking to people in a car, but the people were outside of the car. Inaccuracies like this, although small, were quite distracting and too frequent in the second half. As well, in the second half, actors were tasked with filming and acting at the same time – this often meant that cameras were out of focus or angled badly, camera tricks were slightly out of line, or half of a person’s face was out of frame. I personally think the production could have benefited from having a slightly bigger cast, and perhaps one or two permanent operators who didn’t have roles.
Nevertheless, the cast was very talented, jumping between roles with ease. Gareth Cassidy made for a strong lead, and his chemistry with Amy Dunn was brilliant. Sometimes, cast members put on unnecessary accents that were, quite simply, poor. If you’re going to do a scouse accent in Liverpool, at least make it good. For me, these accents just felt unnecessary and made me cringe.
Overall, ‘War of the Worlds’ is certainly a unique, bold and daring piece of what feels more like art than theatre. It has lots of potential, but too often has inaccuracies, strange choices, and lacks the connection/genuineness of live theatre. It’s certainly an unforgettable night, but not necessarily something I would rush back to watch again.
Plays until 7 March 2026
★★
