Review: The War of the Worlds

Foley sound effects artist John Gzowski in the 2011 production of The War of the Worlds (photo credit: John Lauener)

Theatre...on Radio
by Dave Ross
@dmjross


On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air performed their infamous broadcast of Howard Koch’s radio play The War of the Worlds. Last night, precisely 74 years later, the Art of Time Ensemble presented their dramatic staging of this same radio play. This production was originally presented as part of World Stage in 2011, and was revived for this season by Art of Time. They’ve created an artistic masterpiece – using only a 5 piece radio orchestra and an extremely talented foley artist, we get taken back to 1938 and that radio studio in New York.

special mention goes to John Gzowski as the foley artist

This treatment is what makes this radio play compelling today. The performance is not about the War of the Worlds, it’s about the staging of the War of the Worlds. I had been expecting to see a reading of the play, and at first I thought this approach could be hokey, but it has been done so tastefully as to be completely unobtrusive. This narrative frame is not a point of focus, it simply enables the original narrative to unfold within it.  The frame keeps us at a certain distance from the radio play narrative - if you close your eyes and listen, the radio play is still entirely convincing. If you open your eyes and return to the studio, that illusion is shattered by the double bass player reading an issue of LIFE magazine while on rest. Using the frame removes the illusion created by the radio play, while highlighting the fact that it exists. It is an interesting perspective for the audience, and a wonderful directorial decision. There is very little to criticize in the production. The voice talent (Sean Cullen, Nicholas Campbell and Marc Bendavid) are all extremely talented, and special mention goes to John Gzowski as the foley artist, providing the background audio texture so essential to radio drama. The orchestra is underutilized, but stay in their roles through great periods of inactivity. When they are needed, their sound is spot on. 

War of the Worlds, however, was Part II of a two-part night. The first half of the performance was Herrmannthology, an audio visual collage of the music of Bernard Hermann’s film scores, set to a live mix of the films they were composed for. The piece contains music from Citizen Kane, Farenheit 451, Vertigo, The Twilight Zone, and Psycho, among many others. The films were being mixed live by Tess Girard, a well-recognized film artist whose works have been showcased worldwide. Unfortunately, this piece suffers, especially in comparison to the second half of the evening. The first challenge comes in creating a suite of film scores by one composer, where the individual pieces will understandably run together and start to sound very much the same. Just listen to the soundtracks from John Williams’ scores, you’ll hear it. The film mix was intriguing, artfully executed and perfectly in line with the music, but was projected from a somewhat weak projector that was washed out by the stage lighting. Film scores rely on the context of the film to help create a complete experience. Art of Time has tried to address this with the film mix, but it’s efficacy is greatly reduced through these washed out projections. Washed-out lighting and projection problems are compounded by the use of theatrical haze. All in all, there was very little to focus on in the segment, and it ended up with a certain sameness running through it. The performances by the nine-piece ensemble were precise, and they did a delightful job of adapting Hermann’s sounds, even managing to execute the theme from Psycho without strings.

The War of the Worlds has a very short run, and it has its issues (Hermannthology feels like a bit of an afterthought, what I would call programme padding) but is enjoyable. The star of this show is the actual War of the Worlds. Sure, you can download a recording, but it’s just not the same as seeing it through this intriguing new lens. Not to mention, it’s Halloween week, and we’ve sent several spacecraft to Mars. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before they send some ships our way…

The War of the Worlds runs at the Enwave Theatre at Harbourfront Centre until Nov 4.