Ensemble Theatre Company’s season-opening show, Joe Landry’s War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast, is a radio-production revival of Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 radio drama. Directed by Jamie Torcellini, this production embodies the horror of the original broadcast while also maintaining the snappy, comic undertones of a vintage radio production on display for an audience. The four actors, Richard Baird (who plays a riotously sociopathic version of Orson Welles), Matthew Floyd Miller, Bryan Daniel Porter, and Ashley Margaret Morton (the fastest talking of transatlantic dames), drive both comedy and drama with accurate aim and enthusiastic force.
Something to note for future viewers: layers of meta in the structure of this show cycle rapidly (especially in the first ten minutes of the play, during the setup of premise). For instance, Baird plays 1940s radio actor Freddie Fillmore. Fillmore then plays Welles circa the original broadcast, who then plays a series of characters from the original script. Following who’s who is at times frenetic, but it’s never not entertaining.
A playground of lighting, practical, and foley effects, War of the Worlds is as fun to watch as it is to hear. The Act 1 segment is catchy and narrative driven. The mid-show interlude of Professor Pierson (Orson Welles/Freddie Filmore/Matthew Baird) wandering a barren landscape philosophizing about the nature of humanity slows the show down, but the later segments of Welles and the press being mutually annoyed by each other is hilarious. The show ends with a simple but powerful aural montage that elucidates the importance of news literacy, especially in our era of AI hoaxes and fake news. The final visual of the Zeta Reticulan stare carved into a Jack-o’-lantern exemplifies the detailed artistry of this compelling production.
See War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast at the New Vic Theatre through October 26. etcsb.org
Richard Baird, Ashley Margaret Morton, Matthew Floyd Miller and Bryan Daniel Porter star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Richard Baird and Matthew Floyd Miller star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Matthew Floyd Miller and Richard Baird star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Ashley Margaret Morton, Matthew Floyd Miller and Richard Baird star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Ashley Margaret Morton, Matthew Floyd Miller, Bryan Daniel Porter and Richard Baird (in back) star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Richard Baird stars in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Bryan Daniel Porter stars in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Richard Baird and Matthew Floyd Miller star in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Matthew Floyd Miller stars in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography 
Ashley Margaret Morton stars in the ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY production of “WAR OF THE WORLDS: THE PANIC BROADCAST,” directed by Jamie Torcellini and now playing at the New Vic Theatre in Santa Barbara. | Photo: Lore Photography
