H.G. Wells’s classic 1898 sci-fi novel has spawned a variety of adaptations, from the thrilling Orson Welles radio play of 1938 to Jeff Wayne’s audio musical version (1978) and the rather less inspiring Tom Cruise action movie of 2005. There have been a few stage interpretations along the way too, but none perhaps so radical or imaginative as this latest version by Lancaster-based theatre company Imitating The Dog.

The production shifts the action to 1960s London, where paranoia-fuelled fascism is on the rise (the show’s jumping off point is an Enoch Powell-led rally and his ‘rivers of blood’ speech) with the story narrated by William Travers - a paid-up National Front member rather than the gentle philosopher-journalist of the original. Like that unnamed hero the show sees him wandering apocalyptic streets in an attempt to get back to his wife, encountering an array of characters - as well marauding Martians in giant tripods - along the way.

But this War Of The Worlds is rather less concerned with extra-terrestrial interlopers and more with aliens from planet Earth, the message that foreigners can’t be trusted hammered home by images of the aforementioned rally at which Travers was hospitalised after being trampled by a police horse. The fact that he’s still wearing bloodied pyjamas suggests he’s discharged himself early, but an ongoing odyssey pockmarked by recurring characters and motifs suggests the whole thing could be a fever dream too.

So as much as this adaptation by directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright retains elements of the original - tripod war machines, heat rays and characters such as the lone soldier and pastor - it turns the novel’s central premise into a question: have Martians really landed on Earth? Or are they simply the product of a damaged brain? Or perhaps conjured up by Travers’s hatred of foreigners as his wife suggests?

One thing that certainly has been conjured up is the production itself, which is the sort of magical enterprise that can only happen in live theatre, and with pinpoint execution by all involved. And make no mistake, all its four actors are very much involved - and there’s a lot more to their performances than acting… Three also operate handheld cameras and shift props to create a live movie that’s projected on a huge screen throughout the show. Gareth Cassidy, as the main protagonist, gets off lightly in comparison, but his intense physical performance is also the glue that holds it all together.

And there’s a lot to hold together - the stage a melting pot of live action, filming, miniature environments, model worlds, camera tricks, projections, soundscapes and more. Technically incredible - choreographing it all is no small achievement - it’s also a sensory overload that means you often don’t know where to look. The big screen is the best medium to follow the narrative, but watching the movie being created - on Coventry local Abby Clarke’s suitably moody set - is arguably even more enjoyable.

Whether the show makes a genuine political point or meets the directors’ stated intention to question ‘how we engage with media to understand how we situate ourselves in the world’ is debatable, what isn’t is that this version of War Of The Worlds is a technical and theatrical triumph.  

Four stars

War of the Worlds was reviewed on Wednesday 18 March by Steve Adams at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, where it shows until Saturday 21 March.