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Rhum and Clay Theatre Company presents

Written with Isley LynnDirected by Hamish MacDougall and Julian Spooner

Originally commissioned by New Diorama Theatre

Co-produced by Brighton Festival and HOME Manchester

Supported by China Plate, Corn Exchange Newbury, MAST Mayflower Studios Southampton, New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich and Redbridge Drama Centre

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England

Duration: 120 minutes (including interval)Age 12+Contains strong language, flashing lights and haze

The War of the Worlds Written with Isley Lynn Directed by Hamish MacDougall and Julian Spooner

CastGina IsaacJess Mabel JonesJulian SpoonerMatt Wells

WriterCo-DirectorsMovement DirectorSet and Costume Designer Lighting Co-Designers Sound DesignerVideo Designer

Technical Stage Manager Deputy Stage Manager

Executive ProducerGeneral Manager

Isley LynnHamish MacDougall, Julian SpoonerMatt Wells Bethany WellsNick Flintoff, Pete Maxey Benjamin GrantIain Syme

Paul MilfordCarys Davies

Sally CowlingAmy Strike

What stories do we choose to believe, and why? In the darkest of times, the truth is a very precious commodity…

As humans we are fascinated and consumed by the stories that we tell each other. It’s how we navigate and explain the world. There is nothing more alluring to us than a satisfying narrative.

When Orson Welles adapted H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds in 1938 he wanted to create a thrilling piece of radio drama that would ‘feel’ real. In fact, it felt so real that it caused a level of hysteria amongst listeners that was in part down to Welles’s consummate skill as a storyteller, but that was also a feature of the time in which he told it. Europe was on the brink of the Second World War, Hitler was becoming bolder and more ferocious, the Hindenburg airship disaster had just taken place, and all of this was being transmitted into people’s living rooms via the radio — the first piece of technology that allowed world events to invade the family home. So perhaps it is no surprise that in such a febrile atmosphere Welles’s Martian invasion felt entirely plausible.

Fast-forward to 2016, and terrorist threats are gripping Europe, Donald Trump is promising a Muslim ban if he is elected, and the internet has replaced the radio as the medium through which we make sense of the world. We remain just as susceptible to a convincing narrative, even more so if that narrative seems to offer an explanation for our sense of unease.

Biographies Nick Flintoff Lighting Co-DesignerNick Flintoff trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and studied documentary film at the Metropolitan Film School, London. He ran the technical department at the Gantry, Southampton, and was Production Manager with Imagination Ltd before joining the company’s lighting design team, working on various large-scale projects. Returning to the theatre, he worked at the Corn Exchange, Newbury, and lit numerous national tours and various shows for the Watermill Theatre, Newbury. He is currently Technical Associate for the National Theatre’s New Work Department. He previously designed the lighting for Rhum and Clay’s production Hardboiled and is thrilled to be back with the team for The War of the Worlds. He is a member of the Association of Lighting Designers.

Benjamin Grant Sound DesignerBenjamin Grant studied at Central School of Speech and Drama, London, and has designed for theatre, dance and installations, specialising in devised work and new writing. His recent sound design credits include Death of England at the National Theatre; Maggot Moon at the Unicorn Theatre, London; I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole for Pleasance Beyond; Education Education Education at the Trafalgar Studios, London; Prurience at the Southbank Centre, London, and the Guggenheim Museum, New York; and The Road Awaits Us at Sadler’s Wells, London. His credits as Associate Sound Designer include Beware of Pity at the Schaubuhne, Berlin, and The Kid Stays In the Picture at the Royal Court Theatre, London. He is an Associate Artist of The Wardrobe Ensemble, Bristol.

Gina Isaac PerformerGina Isaac trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her recent theatre work includes A Streetcar Named Desire for Rapture Theatre; Made in India for Tamasha at the Soho Theatre; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for National Theatre Productions; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Top Girls, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons and Three Sisters at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester; The Grapes of Wrath at the Chichester Festival Theatre; The Winter’s Tale at the Salisbury Playhouse; Small Miracle at the Tricycle Theatre, London; and Mother Courage and Her Children for English Touring Theatre. Her television and film credits include EastEnders, Holby City, Casualty, Derek, Men Only, The Bill, Fast Girls, Unidentified and Walking with Shadows.

Jess Mabel Jones PerformerJess Mabel Jones is a multidisciplinary artist, producer and collaborator who makes work that strives to incite change. She is co-creator of the Total Theatre Award-winning Backstage in Biscuit Land with Touretteshero, The Paper Man with Improbable and the Total Theatre Award-shortlisted The Flop with Hijinx and Spymonkey. She is co-founder of the inclusive punk collective Where’s My Vagina?, who create disruptive happenings and digital artworks, and is one half of the creative partnership Motherhoody, which makes radical public interventions through workshops and film. Jess is neurodivergent and an alumna of Rose Bruford and The BRIT School.

jessmabeljones.com

Isley Lynn WriterIsley Lynn’s work includes A Good Story (Canace) as part of 15 Heroines at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London; Tiny Dancers for the National Youth Theatre; Skin a Cat, which toured nationally, was named Pick of the Year at VAULT Festival, London, and was nominated for four Off West End Awards, including Most Promising New Playwright and Best New Play; Albatross for Paines Plough at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, and the Gate Theatre, London; The Swell for a HighTide First Commissions play reading; Totty for Paines Plough and Tamasha’s Come To Where I’m From: London; Sie und Wir for Werk X, Vienna; Tether at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe; What’s So Special at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London; Bright Nights at The Space, London; Sleight of Hand as part of Little Stitches, an evening of four plays at Theatre503, the Arcola Theatre and the Gate Theatre, London; and Lomography, which won a special commendation in the 2012 Soho Young Writers Awards.

isleylynn.com

Hamish MacDougall Co-Director

Hamish MacDougall’s recent directing credits include Friend for James Seabright Productions in Edinburgh and Adelaide; Hammerhead (named The Pleasance’s Best Comedy Show and the winner of the Brighton Comedy Award) and Soothing Sounds for Baby (which won four Chortle Comedy Awards and was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award) at the Soho Theatre and Southbank Centre, London, and on tour; The Narcissist, which he co-wrote, at the Underbelly (Edinburgh), the Battersea Arts Centre and Toomler, Amsterdam; Willy at the Soho Theatre and the Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh; Life and Rhymes at the Udderbelly, Southbank, and in Edinburgh, where it won an Arts Voice Award; and Zoo for Theatre 503. He is also a performer and a member of Kandinsky Theatre Company, with which he co-devised and performed in Trap Street at the Schaubuhne, Berlin, and the New Diorama Theatre, London; and Dog Show (winner of the Off-West End Award for Best Ensemble and a Peter Brook Award), Still Ill and Dinomania (nominated for the Off-West End Award for Best Ensemble last year) at the New Diorama Theatre.

Pete Maxey Lighting Co-DesignerPete Maxey trained at Middlesex University and spent two years with the National Theatre’s New Work department, assisting the development of new productions including Anna, Treasure Island, Everyman and The Elephantom. He subsequently joined the technical team at Sadler’s Wells, London, and currently works with several British and international companies, making and touring shows worldwide. He also runs technical theatre workshops for the National Theatre and local schools. His lighting design credits include Nutcracker for Ballet Central and ADC Theatre; Salome at the Cockpit Theatre, London, and on tour; Bromley Bedlam Bethlehem at the Old Red Lion, London; Bon Ami at the 2019 VAULT Festival; the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Breakin’ Convention Festivals at Sadler’s Wells; Wild Card: Spoken Movement at Sadler’s Wells; The Girl Who Never Looked Up at the National Theatre; The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Twelfth Night at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury; Dying For It at the Brockley Jack Theatre, London; and Ten Women at Ovalhouse, London.

Julian Spooner Performer/Co-DirectorJulian Spooner studied drama at the University of Bristol before training at the École Jacques Lecoq, Paris, where he co-founded Rhum and Clay Theatre Company, of which he is currently Co-Artistic Director. He he has co-created and performed in all of the company’s productions. In 2018 he won The Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his performance in the acclaimed solo show Mistero Buffo for Arcola Theatre. He directed Testosterone for Rhum and Clay on tour nationally and internationally, and co-directed and performed in 64 Squares. He is also a writer and director for film, producing under Skym Bay Films. His short film Toby, made with the director Tom Savage, has won numerous awards as Best Comedy at festivals worldwide. He was most recently seen on stage playing Hugh Hughes’s father Daniel Hughes in Hoipolloi’s production The Ladder at the Adelaide Fringe and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

Iain Syme Video DesignerIain Syme trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. His work and designs have been described as ‘ingenious’ by The Guardian and ‘responsible for bringing shows to life’ by A Younger Theatre. In 2015 he won the Association of Lighting Designers’ Excellence in Video Design Award. He has collaborated with a wide range of companies, directors and venues, including the National Gallery, the BBC, Complicité, the Belarus Free Theatre, Katie Mitchell, the Two Door Cinema Club and BLUR.

Bethany Wells Set and Costume DesignerBethany Wells trained in architecture and now works in dance, theatre and installation as a performance designer with a particular interest in site-specific and devised performance. She is an Associate Artist with Middle Child, Hull. Her recent work includes Rallying Cry at the Battersea Arts Centre; Busking It for High Tide; DISTANCE at the Park Theatre, London; A New And Better You and Removal Men at the Yard Theatre, London; Legacy at the Theatre Royal, York; TRUST at the Gate Theatre, London; Party Skills for the End of the World at the Manchester International Festival (MIF); The Department of Distractions for Third Angel; All We Ever Wanted Was Everything for Middle Child; Cosmic Scallies for Graeae and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; and We Were Told There Was Dancing for the Royal Exchange Young Company. Her current projects include Us Against Whatever for Middle Child; Thank You Very Much with Claire Cunningham at MIF; STORM for Search Party; and the ongoing WARMTH, a mobile sauna and performance space commissioned by Compass Live Art.

bethanywells.com

Matt Wells Performer/Movement DirectorMatt Wells is a freelance actor and movement director and has been Co-Artistic Director of Rhum and Clay Theatre Company since joining in 2011 whilst studying at École Jacques Lecoq, Paris. His recent credits include co-devising and performing in Testosterone (selected for the British Council 2017 Showcase and named Best Theatre Show at Pleasance 2107) on tour in the UK and internationally; 64 Squares at the Underbelly, Edinburgh, and on a national tour; Hardboiled — The Fall of Sam Shadow at the Watermill, Newbury, and the New Diorama Theatre, London; and A Strange Wild Song for Bedlam in Edinburgh and at the New Diorama Theatre. He has run workshops for the National Theatre and the Old Vic in London, and for the British Council in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Australia and Venezuela.

Rhum and Clay Theatre Company

Artistic Directors: Julian Spooner, Matt Wells

Executive Producer: Sally Cowling

General Manager: Amy Strike

Rhum and Clay is led by its Co-Artistic Directors, Julian Spooner and Matthew Wells, and its Executive Producer, Sally Cowling. Emerging from the École Jacques Lecoq in Paris, Rhum and Clay’s work is always devised and draws on physical virtuosity. Its productions are noted for their cinematic storytelling, playing with overlapping narratives with flashbacks and montages that create artful, visually textured narratives. The company works with an ever-changing range of creative collaborators, creating nine productions over the past decade that have toured in the UK and internationally. The last two years have seen its 2017 production of Testosterone and its 2018 production of Mistero Buffo presented in Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan, France and Venezuela. The company is based at the New Diorama Theatre, London, and is an associate of the Redbridge Drama Centre. Its numerous awards include the 2018 The Stage Edinburgh Award for Best Performance.

rhumandclay.com