{"id":185841,"date":"2026-05-29T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/?p=185841"},"modified":"2026-05-29T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:00:00","slug":"the-martians-are-coming-to-torquay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/living\/the-martians-are-coming-to-torquay\/","title":{"rendered":"The martians are coming \u2013 to Torquay"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Torquay Theatre Troupe invites audiences to step back in time this June to one of the most infamous nights in broadcasting history.<\/p>\n

It’s Halloween night, 1938. In a New York radio studio, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air are about to unleash pandemonium on an unsuspecting nation.<\/p>\n

Their broadcast of The War of the Worlds, a dramatisation of H.G. Wells’ alien invasion novel, sent thousands of Americans into genuine panic, flooding police switchboards and sending families fleeing into the streets with wet handkerchiefs pressed over their faces against the imagined martian gas attack.<\/p>\n

Now, 88 years later, Torquay Theatre Troupe is staging a recreation of that legendary broadcast at the Shoestring Playhouse, and it promises to be unlike anything seen before in our region.<\/p>\n

“This is a unique production for Geelong and the Surf Coast,” director Sue Rawkins said.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to reproduce the exact same 1938 CBS radio broadcast, with actors in authentic costume, performing with scripts at period microphones, oblivious to any audience that may be watching.”<\/p>\n

The concept is both clever and theatrical: audiences watch the drama unfold as though peering through a window into that fateful studio.<\/p>\n

The actors play multiple roles, pulling on jackets, hats or goggles to bring a succession of characters to vivid life including reporters, military officers, panicked operators and the memorable Professor Pierson, played by actor David Senftleben, who leads audiences through the escalating chaos.<\/p>\n

Rawkins describes the production challenge with barely concealed delight.<\/p>\n

“Capturing the drama, the horror, the panic of the original broadcast has been a challenge our skilled actors and crew have relished and mastered,” she said.<\/p>\n

Sound effects \u2013 some digitally crafted by technician Alan Hossack, others created live on stage by actor Amy Lowe \u2013 promise to fill the theatre with an atmosphere of mounting dread.<\/p>\n

Adding a glorious period warmth to proceedings is the Bellarine Big Band, whose authentic 1930s jazz and swing pieces play between broadcasts and, in Rawkins’ words, serve to heighten “the tension and suspense” rather than relieve it.<\/p>\n

It is, as Rawkins puts it simply: “the play you can watch with your eyes shut”.<\/p>\n

The War of the Worlds plays at the Shoestring Playhouse, 77 Beach Road, Torquay, from 4\u201313 June.<\/p>\n

Tickets are available via ttt.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n

The martians are coming. Will you be ready?<\/p>\n

\/\/SPONSORED CONTENT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Torquay Theatre Troupe invites audiences to step back in time this June to one of the most infamous nights in broadcasting history. It’s Halloween night, 1938. In a New York radio studio, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air are about to unleash pandemonium on an unsuspecting nation. Their broadcast of The […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":185842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-185841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe martians are coming \u2013 to Torquay - Armstrong Creek Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"See Torquay Theatre Troupe recreate the infamous 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast this June. 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