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London Review
London ReviewWar Horse
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War Horse Revival
War Horse is a play that you visit for the roller coaster emotion of seeing a beautiful horse ridden on stage and for the magnificent design of scenes in charcoal projected on a huge torn swathe of cartridge paper which forms the back drop to the action. The war scenes too are very powerful with smoke and a tank looking like a vehicle from a futuristic Mad Max or Terminator movie. On this viewing I was annoyed by some actors spinning out their parts and by the overly lush West Country regional accents. I was pleased to see that the child puppet Emilie had been replaced by a small actor (Bettrys Jones). It’s always hard to know whether the first viewing has tempered one’s perception or whether Ted Narracott (Colin Mace) has been toned down to appear less of a two dimensional villain. Ironically I preferred him really mean. What is sure was that Bronagh Gallagher’s almost hectoring Rose Gallagher was far less sympathetic when compared to the colour blind casting of Thusitha Jayasundera as the boy’s mother. Maybe there have been some doubts about the acoustic quality of the New London compared to the National and actors have been told to project their voices or to slow down because, even that excellent actor Patrick O’Kane as the sympathetic German Freidrich Müller, seemed over the top, and the press night over ran by an astonishing 35 minutes. The people movemnt at the intervals at the New London take longer because of the fewer number of exits and entrances. I was still moved to tears by the terrible fate of the horses and the magnificent staging but this time was also conscious that I was being manipulated! Don’t forget the box of Kleenex and don’t miss War Horse for the genius of Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler’s state of the art horse designs for the Handspring Puppet Company and Toby Sedgwick’s movement and horse choreography, just like the real thing. For the review of the original production, just scroll past the production notes below. London Production Notes for War Horse Production Credits as per the National Theatre New London Cast: Alice Barclay, James Barriscale, Michael Brett, Simon Bubb, Matthew Burgess, Finn Caldwell, Laura Cubitt , David Emmings, Robert Emms Tim van Eyken, Bronagh Gallagher, Robin Guiver, Kit Harington, Stephen Harper, Bettrys Jones, Gareth Kennerley, Jane Leaney, Rachel Leonard, Tim Lewis, Colin Mace, Al Nedjari, Luke Norris, Patrick O'Kane, Toby Olié, Matthew Spencer, Nicholas Tizzard, Howard Ward, Alan Williams, Roger Wilson Running Time: Two hours 45 minutes with an interval Box Office: 020 7452 3000 or 0844 412 4654 £10 reduction for children on Monday to Thursday performances Booking to 26th September 2009 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge on Friday 2nd April 2009 performance at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London WC1 (Tube: Holborn) |
Craig Leo ( puppeteer) Joey ( puppet) |
There was the sound of slamming doors and raised voices before I heard footsteps running back across the yard and excited voices coming closer. Two heads appeared at my door. One was that of a young boy, considering me carefully before his face broke into a beaming smile. Mother he said deliberately. " That will be a wonderful and brave horse. Look how he holds his head."— Joey's account of meeting Albert for the first time.
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Joey (Horse), Craig Leo (Puppeteer), Luke Treadaway ( Albert Narracott )
(Photo: Simon Annand) |
Never for one moment did I think a production based on puppet characters could engage me emotionally but I was blown away from the very first moment of watching the foal onstage. My brain told me that there were three actors managing the colt's body but in my heart I was convinced that I was watching a young animal running around a paddock. There are two things to admire about this lovely play. To begin with there's the sheer technical brilliance of the engineering, the perfection of the horse's body and how it works — this is what the men talked about at the interval. Then there is the visual and emotional realism, a horse that twitches its ears and breathes and moves like a real animal, eats grass and whinnies and has a human rider on its back: the leap that your imagination can make so that you believe you are watching a live horse — this is what the women talked about at the interval.
Of course this is where subsidised theatre comes into its own. Only the National Theatre has the resources to develop and perfect how life size horses are portrayed on stage. The movement of the animals, even the small goose that was pushed along by an actor, hisses and flaps its wings and is very real., creating a sense of wonderment.
The initial relationship in the play is between a boy and his horse. Albert , the boy, (Luke Treadaway) tries to entice the colt to feed from a bucket. Joey, the horse, is a chestnut hunter, a cross between a strong, maybe a draught horse and a racing thoroughbred. John Tam's folk music adds to the atmosphere as the young horse is patiently trained to plough to win an impossible bet recklessly laid by Albert's father Ted Narracott (Toby Sedgwick). Although Albert's father agrees he can keep the horse the father breaks his word and Joey the horse is sold to the army as a mount for an officer. Joey goes to France and Albert is given an unwelcome consolation Christmas present of a bicycle.
In France Joey serves in a battle, sees his rider killed, meets Topthorn a thoroughbred horse, and is later taken by the Germans where he learns to pull an ambulance. Joey's ploughing experience saves his life. Angus Wright plays Hauptmann Friedrich Müller, a German officer and equestrian who rescues both Joey and Topthorn from warfare. Later Joey and Topthorn are made to pull a heavy gun and Topthorn tragically dies of exhaustion. Joey is stranded in No Man's Land, gets entangled in the barbed wire but miraculously is reunited with Albert, by now in the army but blinded by a gas attack. Joey's life still hangs in the balance. The constancy here is the relationship between boy and horse. Albert's father fails him in many ways although his mother (Thusitha Jayasundera) tries for fairness, she is unable to make her subsistence farming husband keep his promises and she tries to explain to her son why.
Nick Stafford has adapted the novel into an ensemble piece with many of the actors playing several different parts. Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company have achieved wonders with the horses, made from wicker and wire and leather frames like a design net and with moving joints from withers to fetlock. I remember seeing Equus for the first time and being impressed with the characterisation of the horses but War Horse takes the staging of these beautiful creatures to another level. If I have a niggle, it is the choice of a puppet to play the small French girl Emilie. Unlike the horses, I was always conscious that she was a doll.
The First World War battlefields are realistic enough to be disturbing and I would strongly recommend that children under twelve are not taken to this play which may of course be why Emilie has to be a puppet! Rae Smith's design incorporates a swathe across the sky of what looks like torn cartridge paper on which are animated her pencil and charcoal drawings of clouds across the landscape or scenes from the war. Lit from behind, this backdrop is very effective at adapting to different scenarios and the huge Olivier stage never feels too large. Later at the height of battle the torn paper soaks up a stain of blood which spreads until all is stained red. The second act found many reaching for handkerchiefs such is the heightened emotion of the narrative.
I really did not expect to see War Horse as a contender for Best Play, but now I do not see how it could fail to be nominated.
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WAR HORSE
Written by Michael Morpurgo Adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford Directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris With: Jamie Ballard, Alice Barclay, Jason Bernett, James Barriscale, Simon Bubb, Finn Caldwell, Paul Chequer, Tim Van Eyken, Thomas Goodridge, Stephen Harper, Thusitha Jayasundera, Gareth Kennerley, Craig Leo, Rachel Leonard, Tim Lewis, Tommy Luther, Mervyn Millar, Emily Mytton, Toby Olie, Toby Sedgwick, Ashley Taylor-Rhys, Luke Treadaway, Howard Ward, Alan Williams, Matthew Woodyatt, Angus Wright Design: Rae Smith Puppet Design and Fabrication: Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company Lighting: Paule Constable Movement: Toby Sedgwick Music: Adrian Sutton Songmaker: John Tams Sound: Christopher Shutt Music Director: Harvey Brough Video Designers: Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd Running time: Two hours 30 minutes with one interval Box Office: 020 7452 3000 Booking to 12th January 2008 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 17th October 2007 performance at the Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, Waterloo, London SE1 (Rail/Tube: Waterloo) |
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