(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- The Martians are coming... to New Jersey! East Lynne Theater Company presents War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast from October 8 to November 1, 2026. The play was adapted by Joe Landry from the novel by H.G. Wells. It was inspired by and including the Mercury Theater on the Air's infamous 1938 radio play.
On October 30, 1938, a radio broadcast convinced thousands of Americans that Martians were invading New Jersey.
The War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast recreates the famous Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast directed by Orson Welles, the radio drama that blurred the line between fiction and reality and became one of the most extraordinary moments in broadcasting history.
Performed live in the style of a 1930s radio studio, actors, musicians, and sound effects artists bring the entire broadcast to life before your eyes, transporting audiences back to the golden age of radio, when a voice on the airwaves could reach millions at once.
Performances take place Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:00pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online. The theater is located at 717 Franklin Street in Cape May, New Jersey.
NOTE: This production includes simulated emergency broadcasts and depictions of a fictional alien invasion presented in the style of a live radio drama.
Coming this October, the very season when the original broadcast stunned the nation, this electrifying theatrical event invites audiences to experience the drama exactly as listeners once did—live, unfolding in real time.
That night, the world discovered the astonishing power of modern media. The broadcast spread across the country with breathtaking speed—becoming what many now consider the first truly viral media moment in American history.
Nearly a century later, we are still wrestling with its consequences.
And it all began with a voice on the radio… and something terrible appearing to come from the sky.
Or did it?
Joe Landry's plays have been produced across the country and internationally and include It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (named one of the top ten most-produced plays by American Theatre Magazine). His other Live Radio Play adaptations include Vintage Hitchcock, Meet Me in St. Louis, War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast, The Great Gatsby and A Christmas Carol, published and licensed by Concord Theatricals. Other plays include The Wicked Stage, Reefer Madness, Madness, Numb and Hitchcocked!. He attended Playwrights Horizons/NYU and has taught playwriting at Sacred Heart University.
There are multiple performances including:
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
@ 7:30pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
There are multiple performances including:
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
@ 7:30pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
New Brunswick, NJ
There are multiple performances including:
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
@ 7:30pm
Kean Stage - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
Union, NJ
Thursday, October 15, 2026
@ 7:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
Rahway, NJ
Thursday, October 15, 2026
@ 8:00pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center
Morristown, NJ
