Cambridge Arts Theatre – until Saturday 2nd May 2026
Reviewed by Steph Lott
4****
Imitating the Dog’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds is unlike anything I’ve seen on a stage before. The conceit is brilliant: rather than trying to stage an alien invasion in a theatre, the company films the whole thing live, right in front of you. Props, miniatures, clever camera angles — all the tricks of a film set are laid bare, and what appears on the screens above and around the stage looks for all the world like a graphic novel brought to life. Dark, inky, stylised. It’s a ingenious solution to the problem of how you put an epic, world-destroying story into a room that seats a few hundred people. But actually the story of War of the Worlds is used to talk about something else entirely.
Bonnie Baddoo, Morgan Bailey, and Amy Dunn are remarkable. They switch between acting and operating cameras with a fluency that makes you forget how extraordinarily difficult what they’re doing actually is. The coordination required must be immense, and they carry it off without a single visible seam. Gareth Cassidy, meanwhile, gives a strong central performance as Will Travers, the story’s lead — grounded and believable even as the world collapses around him.
The creative team — Simon Wainwright, Pete Brooks, and Andrew Quick — have assembled something that is, by any measure, technically extraordinary. The lighting is sinister. The sound design is deeply unsettling. There are cutaway techniques and camera tricks whose proper names I don’t know but whose effect I absolutely felt. This production is slick, clever, and clearly the work of people who have thought very hard about every single detail.
And yet.
For all its brilliance, I found myself a little adrift as an audience member. At times I genuinely didn’t know where to look. Parts of the physical stage are clearly designed to be seen only through a lens — intimate little scenes built for close-up — while other things sit in plain view, seemingly not meant for naked eyes at all. It created a slightly disorienting experience. I felt occasionally like an accidental bystander on a film set rather than a proper participant in a piece of theatre.
The production also uses the alien invasion less as spectacle and more as a device — a framework for exploring something more human and disturbing underneath. I won’t spoil what, but it’s a more thoughtful piece than the title might suggest. The suspense builds well, and there are moments of genuine dread.
My honest feeling is that is a production I admired far more than I enjoyed. The expertise on show is undeniable — extraordinary, even — but I left the theatre impressed rather than moved. Not every piece of theatre needs to be comfortable entertainment, and I suspect this one knows exactly what it’s doing. I’m just not sure it’s for everyone.
Worth seeing, without question. Just go prepared to work a bit.