War of the Worlds VR Musical Innovates Immersive Entertainment

In the live production of The War of the Worlds, audiences participate in the Martian invasion of 1898, which takes place in a physical and virtual environment. Live and virtual actors lead groups of up to 12 guests into the heart of the story. When guests enter the 22,000-square-foot, multi-level site (at London’s Old Metal Exchange), they meet George and Carrie in hologram form and travel back into George’s memories. Arriving at the Observatory, guests walk in the shoes of Head Astronomer Professor Ogilvy on a dazzling tour of the Royal Observatory to experience the magic of constellations and planets. They also notice a peculiar object in the night sky that seems to be heading straight for Earth.

Next, on Horsell Common, there hangs a misty chill and the aroma of freshly cut grass, and guests encounter a silver cylinder from which emerges slithering, animatronic tentacles as the powerful baseline of Jeff Wayne’s iconic soundtrack kicks in.

Then comes the deadly, pyrotechnic, Martian Heat Ray, and guests are surrounded by everything from the scent of burning flesh to writhing burned bodies. George Herbert’s House is considered the “horror room” of the experience, and it isn’t for the faint of heart. Audience members break into this house and enjoy tea and biscuits before being plunged into complete darkness as the Martians get ever closer. The scene climaxes in a terrifying flash of strobe lighting and ambisonic-surround audio that heralds the first—but not the last—interaction with the Martians.

Without a moment to take a breath, guests battle their way through war-zone England and then travel through large-scale, social VR environments as they try to reach London.

The Forever Autumn sequence completes the first half of War of the Worlds, which ends with a climactic naval battle. Guests climb into boats with motion simulators and, as they try to flee the attacking Martians, there’s the sensation of being on the water and buffeted by a chilly wind as they escape down the River Thames.

In the final scene of the show, guests board hot-air balloons and soar over England via virtual reality, which recreates the sensations of flight and movement. Smoke billows around the balloons, and guests feel the wind on their faces. There’s one more surprise before the end as the final song of Wayne’s album envelopes the escapees.

Although guests don’t exercise agency in this experience (i.e., they lack choice and don’t play a role in designing the narrative), the merging of multisensory technology is a step forward for experiences such as this. Guests move physically through the story while participating via virtual and augmented reality. The adventure incorporates smell, tactile sensation, sound, and taste (i.e., walking across chilly and misty Horsell Common and sharing tea and biscuits in George Herbert’s House). During intermission, guests enjoy themed beverages at the Red Weed Bar as the atmospheric music of Jeff Wayne’s album fills the air.

“We spent a while looking at how we write a story that gets the best of Jeff’s Musical Version and of the H.G. Wells novel,” said Jack Pirie, the shows writer/director. “We wanted to put people in the heart of the story to feel the fear, feel the excitement, and feel the trepidation, so we had to figure out what kind of technology we could use that allowed guests to feel like the hero of their own adventure.”