War Horse is one of the most successful shows the National Theatre has staged in recent years and returned to the Olivier in 2008 after a sell out run in 2007. The show features spectacular life-sized puppets and a moving story of WWI seen through the eyes of one boy and his horse. Francesca Donnelly came to review this hugely popular show.
(War Horse is now SOLD OUT)

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The National Theatre’s revival of its award-winning ‘War Horse’ is a thought-provoking triumph.  Set in the First World War and the period leading up to it the play raises important questions for our time.  Based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel it sees the use of magnificent life size puppets.  The Handspring Company who brought ‘His Dark Materials’ to stage in 2005 creatively and imaginatively bring to life the horse whose friendship with a boy survives a war that changes the world.  Testimony to the company’s ability to bring to the stage quality children’s literature, the piece is exhilarating and life-affirming. 

The puppets themselves are so realistic you forget to watch the actors.  The horse puppets are completely life-size, with every part controlled by one of three actors.  Rae Smith uses the basic defining features of horses and turns them into exquisite creations comparable to their fleshly counterparts and capable of supporting a man’s weight, as Ned Narrowcott is required to ride Joey.  The puppets are skeletal in appearance and beautifully engineered so each part that moves in reality has a moving counterpart.  The snorting, foot stamping tail-flicking and twitching of the different parts of the puppet combined to create a living, breathing disturbingly believable portrait of a horse which pays tribute to the Handspring Company’s team work and Rae Smith’s design. Joey’s response to the explosion of shells and machine gun fire, the combined scream of the three actors recreated a chilling high pitched whinny of terror.  I found myself wondering if this wasn’t somehow more real than if a frightened horse were present. 

Adrian Sutton’s score by a live woodwind quintet is hauntingly simple.  The narrative is interrupted at intervals by vocal music led by the ‘Song Man’ who accompanies himself on the accordion. John Tams’s lyrics juxtapose the naivety of the beliefs of the men heading into battle with the certain slaughter facing them.  Combined it creates a sense of lost innocence and mourning for the transition to a new era.   Tam’s use of wartime propaganda is increasingly ironic as it becomes clear the village boys will not return for Christmas. The use of cavalry against machine guns is hopelessly dated. The juxtaposition of the song of childhood romance with trench warfare reinforces the utter newness of the horrors faced. 

Paule Constable’s lighting is a triumph. Moving images including pencil sketches reminiscent of the play’s literary origins are projected onto a giant white screen in the shape of a ripped out sheet of notebook at the back of the stage. Constable creates the homely ambiance of a sleepy West Country village in 1912 where the market-place is the most contact members of the community have with each other with warm yellow lighting.  It contrasts with the shadowy interior of the horses quarters’ at the base of the ship which transfers the men and animals from Dover, recreated using the sound of waves and illuminated model boats carried across stage. 

Toby Sedgwick imaginatively choreographs the movement of the horses.  The formidable power and speed of Joey when ridden to the full extent of his race-horse capabilities is evoked through a combination of lighting, music and the set’s layers. Joey appears to run extremely fast with a fully grown actor on his back despite the fact he remains stationary.   With finely-tuned team work the puppeteers share the working of Joey’s legs and head while animated sketches of a horse and rider are projected from behind to the accompaniment of exhilarating music.  Similarly poignant was the fight scene between Joey and rival Topthorn.  Finn Caldwell’s goose deserves a mention for its comically authentic movement and delightful sound effects. 

The battle scenes were harrowing.  Highly powered sound combined with blinding white light to create shell explosions.  The vivid and dramatic lighting and sound of the battle scenes create the horrific ambiance of trench warfare.  The battle scenes included a gas attack, a shell explosion and machine gun fire.  The lighting saw its most exquisite use in the arrival of the life-size frame of a tank which successfully destroyed any illusions this was a war of the old order in which cavalry could be used, such as the Boer and Crimean Wars of the preceding generations.  The use of puppet soldiers in the cavalry scenes was particularly poignant as the soldiers fell to the ground in slow motion alongside their horses, reinforcing the waste of life.  The use of sound to create machine gun fire was suitably horrific, and especially in juxtaposition with the rousing propaganda speeches of the army Corporals. 

The novel sees the horse’s transfer from the English to the Germans and back again and emphasises the humanity present in both armies.  Nowhere is this clearer than in one of the final war scenes in which Joey is trapped in barbed wire in No Man’s Land on a raised platform.  The audience is privy to a view of both sides of the trenches on either side of his platform.  As both the English and German soldiers elect a volunteer to rescue the horse they find themselves suddenly face to face on either side of the barbed wire with Joey between them. The plight of an injured animal brings out values of compassion and kindness common to both.

Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris are careful to emphasise the suffering present on both sides of the army.  The use of both French and German in their original made the scenes in which the language barrier was overcome particularly poignant.  Patrick O’Kane’s German horse-loving Sergeant who just wanted to see his wife again was sensitively portrayed. His reconciliation with Emilie, a local French girl who witnessed the destruction of her town by his army held important resonances for our time.   

The production is beautiful and sensitive.  Despite the horrors it portrays the final message is an affirmation of the enduring power of friendship.

Francesca Donnelly