The show combines sequences of radio studio set re-enactment of the Welles broadcast, with interpolations of the reported reactions of sections of the listening public. We've seen that before, although the Rhum and Clay company's staging is particularly effective. The 'Physical Theatre' description wouldn't normally be a draw for me, but the LeCoq school training manifested itself as deftly choreographed movement with nice moments of humour and physical synchronicity supporting material the textual material; slick sound and lighting design and an impressive set furthered the highly professional production values.
The unique angle of the production, and one that I had doubts about before seeing the show, is a parallel modern-day thread, in which a British would-be podcaster learns of the story via the personal effects of a deceased neighbour, and armed with a digital recorder travels to the 'real-life' Grover's Mill and stumbles on a modern day case of 'fake news' involving the neighbour's great-nephew. The show's poster displayed around the town uses a collage image of Welles peering from behind a valve radio set at a laptop-toting hipster (which doesn't appear to be readily findable online); it was nice to see Welles making a prominent return appearance to the festivals after his art exhibition last year.
A well-made trailer for the production gives a good taster of the show, and an accurate impression of some of the visuals.
The review below by Jo Tomalin from fringereview.co.uk is the most effective of those I've seen in giving a description of the production rather than a 'sizzle' type promo or "it's great, go see it" sub-synopsis:
http://fringereview.co.uk/review/edinburgh-fringe/2019/the/
Other reviews linked at the EdFringe site give the show well deserved four and five-star ratings, which it also received in the national press during its London run.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/war-of-the-worlds#professional
https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/war-worlds
The show is on until August 26th at The Pleasance Courtyard, normally used as a university campus, and which unfortunately each year seems to tempt an element of irony between the venue's name and my experience of seeing shows there, usually down to the training of the volunteer front-of-house staff apparently consisting only of a short course in insistent officiousness. The positive experience at War of the Worlds cleared the palate somewhat after a real customer service ordeal while seeing another show there a few days earlier, which might be uncharitable to mention, but nearly put me off going back again for this show. An unfortunate but unavoidable incidence of a false fire alarm during that previous show at the same auditorium was exacerbated by a complete lack of communication after evacuation; and finally after the all clear, misdirecting the remnants of the evacuated audience to take a long walk back to the auditorium, only to be informed there that the show was abandoned, and redirected to a long line at the spectacularly unsuitable-for-purpose box office area, where on reaching the front of the queue customers who'd purchased tickets centrally were informed that they wouldn't receive replacement tickets or reimbursement on site, and that there would be no make-good for the wasted time as "we're a charity", and to be directed to another venue for further action (and on arriving there, to be told there that restitution couldn't be made as Pleasance hadn't recorded the show as 'abandoned' on the computer system). So an extra hour down the drain after the scheduled end of that show, and unable to get a pass to see it on another date or a refund. At least I only got moderately rained on that day... Still, no such bad luck when seeing War of the Worlds. Amusing irony, the company's posted a gif of Welles's fellow Transformers alumnus Shia LaBoeuf in full Charles Foster Kane mode applauding the venue. Maybe I'm the Jed Leland of the story...
https://twitter.com/rhumandclay/status/1163395595110891520
Rhum and Clay's website lists the show as booking for a (British?) tour in 2020. It's worth seeing if you get the opportunity.
http://www.rhumandclay.com/war-of-the-worlds
