| War Horse | |
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Official original poster for the play |
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| Written by | Michael Morpurgo (novel) Nick Stafford (play) |
| Date premiered | 17 October 2007 |
| Place premiered | Royal National Theatre, London, England |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | England, France (1914) |
| [National Theatre (London); Lincoln Center Theater (New York); Princess of Wales Theatre (Toronto) Official site] | |
| IBDB profile | |
War Horse is a play based on the book of the same name by acclaimed children's writer Michael Morpurgo, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Originally Morpurgo thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play from his best-selling 1982 novel. He was proved wrong by the play's instant success.[1] The play's West End and Broadway productions are directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, with "horse choreography" by Toby Sedgwick.[2]
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In Devon at the outbreak of World War I, Joey, young Albert Narracott's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Joey serves in the British and German armies, befriends Topthorn (another army horse),[3] and gets caught up in enemy fire. Death, disease and fate take him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in a no man's land. But Albert cannot forget Joey, and, still not old enough to enlist in the army, he embarks on a dangerous mission to find and bring him back to Devon.
The show premiered on 17 October 2007 at the Royal National-Olivier Theatre in South Bank, London, and ran until 14 February 2008.[4] It returned for a second run, from 10 September 2008 until 18 March 2009.[5]
War Horse transferred to the West End's New London Theatre, beginning performances on 28 March 2009, prior to an official opening on 3 April.[6][7] The original cast featured Kit Harington as Albert, who had also played the role in the South Bank production in 2008.[8][9][10] The production also includes an original score composed by John Tams.[11]
The production met with critical acclaim for its life-size horse puppets from the Handspring Puppet Company, winning an Olivier Award, Evening Standard Theatre Award and London Critics' Circle Theatre Award.[12] On 12 October 2009 the performance was seen by HM Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, marking their first private theatre visit in four years.[13] War Horse has been popular with audiences, playing to 97% capacity in 2010, subsequently breaking the record for the highest weekly gross for a play in the West End. In December 2010, War Horse was dubbed "the theatrical event of the decade" by The Times.[14] In 2011 it welcomed its millionth audience member.[15]
War Horse began performances at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on Broadway on 15 March 2011, and opened on 14 April.[16] The British creative team is joined by an all-American cast.[17] Seth Numrich plays the leading role as Albert, with direction by Elliott and Morris.[18] The cast includes Matt Doyle as Billy Narracott, Stephen Plunkett as Nicholls, Peter Hermann as Friedrich Muller, T. Ryder Smith as Arthur Narracott, and Alyssa Bresnahan as Rose Narracott.[19] The production was originally scheduled to close on 26 June 2011, but is now an open-ended run after strong critical reception and ticket sales.[20] The production received five 2011 Tony Awards, including best play.
A Toronto, Ontario, production is expected to open on 28 February 2012 at Mirvish Productions' Princess of Wales Theatre, following previews from 10 February.[15] The cast will star Alex Furber as Albert, with Canadian actors Brad Rudy, Tamara Bernier-Evans, Richard McMillan and Patrick Galligan in supporting roles. The creative team is the same as the West End and Broadway productions.[21]
A United States national touring production of War Horse will begin in Los Angeles, California, at the Ahmanson Theatre on 13 June 2012.[22][23][24][25]
Steven Spielberg directed the movie adaptation of War Horse, released on December 25, 2011, with the screenplay written by Richard Curtis and Lee Hall.[26] The film was shot entirely in England — in Devon, at Stratfield Saye in Berkshire, at Wisley in Surrey, in Luton Hoo Estate, Bedfordshire and at Castle Combe in Wiltshire, using real horses rather than puppets.[27]
The Guardian's Michael Billington wrote in his review:
"Elliott and Morris recreate the kaleidoscopic horror of war through bold imagery, including the remorseless advance of a manually-operated tank, and through the line-drawings of Rae Smith projected on to a suspended screen. Admittedly the performers are somewhat eclipsed by the action ... The joy of the evening, however, lies in the skilled recreation of equine life and in its unshaken belief that mankind is ennobled by its love of the horse."[28]
Charles Spencer in The Daily Telegraph had written that, generally, "puppets are often an embarrassment, involving a lot of effort and fuss for negligible returns"; in this case, he praised the puppetry as "truly magnificent creations by the Handspring Puppet Company."[29] The Times' 10-year old guest reviewer called the show "movingly and realistically brought to life" and "an emotional and compelling adaptation of the book."[30]
In reviewing the Broadway production, Ben Brantley in The New York Times wrote, "...it is how Joey is summoned into being, along with an assortment of other animals, that gives this production its ineffably theatrical magic...Beautifully designed by Rae Smith ... and Paule Constable, this production is also steeped in boilerplate sentimentality. Beneath its exquisite visual surface, it keeps pushing buttons like a sales clerk in a notions shop."[31] Brantley suggests, "The implicit plea not to be forgotten applies not just to the villagers, soldiers and horses portrayed here, but also to theater, as an evanescent art that lives on only in audiences’ memories. Judged by that standard, much of War Horse evaporates not long after it ends. But I would wager that for a good while, you’ll continue to see Joey in your dreams."[31]
Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review, calling the show an "imaginative, moving new Broadway drama ... The play's equine stars are the remarkable creation of Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones' Handspring Puppet Company. As manipulated by three handlers dressed in period costumes, the life-size creatures seem to breathe, snort, feed, walk, gallop, and rear up just as naturally as the genuine articles. In no time at all, they become characters as rounded and complex as any of the humans on stage."[32] Time magazine ranked the play as its top choice among all theatre productions in 2011.[33]
The Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout praised the puppetry, but gave mixed reactions to the play: "The fundamental flaw of "War Horse" is that Nick Stafford, who wrote the script "in association" (that's how the credit reads) with South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company, has taken a book that was written for children and tried to give it the expressive weight of a play for adults. Not surprisingly, Mr. Morpurgo's plot can't stand the strain. Dramatic situations that work perfectly well in the context of the book play like Hollywood clichés onstage. In the first act, the craftsmanship is so exquisite that this doesn't matter—much—but things go downhill fast after intermission. The really big problem is the last scene, about which, once again, the drama critics' code commands silence. This much must be said, though: A play that is so forthright about the horrors of war owes its audience a more honest ending."[34]
In addition, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company won the Special Tony Award for War Horse.
In addition, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company won the Outer Critics Circle Special Achievement Award, for "Puppet Design, Fabrication and Direction for War Horse".
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