‘That was the best play I have ever seen!’
The man next to me is in tears, and the audience is on their feet and whooping the vast cast of actors that have just revived an old friend. Joey the War Horse has triumphantly returned home to the National Theatre after bolting off on tour for a few years, and the Olivier Theatre barn door is well and truly shut behind him, at least until 30th July when this run is due to end, writes Ed and Woody Gray.
Accompanying me on this equine escapade is Southwark News cub reviewer Woody Gray, who has maintained his position on the edge of his seat for the duration of this two hours and twenty-minute performance. Woody was not even born when War Horse first cantered onto the stage at the Olivier in 2007, but he has read Michael Morpurgo’s novel, which was sparked by a conversation with an old soldier. Morpurgo discovered that one million horses left England for the fields of France in the First World War, whilst only 65,000 returned home. His novel War Horse picked up pace through play and film, and it is safe to say it is now a phenomenon.
The War Horse phenomenon has been boosted by the incredible puppetry by Handspring Theatre, which has to be seen to be believed. Joey first appears as a foal, and from the moment the audience sees him and horse pal Topthorn, it is truly mesmerising. The puppeteers breathe so much life into these mechanised cane horse structures that you find yourself watching their individual movements amidst the drama onstage. A turn of an ear, a dive into a nosebag, a muscle twitch, galloping – are all artfully recreated. The effect is one of striking humanity and innocence in contrast to the savagely bestial capacity for humans to inflict senseless violence on everything around them.
The violence in War Horse is realistically portrayed. The story follows young Albert as he joins up aged sixteen in pursuit of his beloved horse Joey, auctioned to the military by his drunken father. Random killings of soldiers and horses, and horse whipping, are portrayed at times, but never gratuitously. A vast torn fragment of a sketchbook page hangs over the minimal stage set, a backdrop for projections of stunning illustrations by Rae Smith throughout, from Devon village to gritty blasted scenes of no man’s land and expressionistic battles. Suddenly, the fragment becomes a giant blood-soaked bandage which drips into poppies above a Guernica-like scene of the aftermath of a battle.
Amidst this chaos and destruction, there are moments of levity and humour in the ranks, but actors speaking in German and French accents undermine the message that soldiers on all sides lost their humanity through the actions of Kaisers and Kings. Over a hundred years have passed since young Woody’s great-grandparents lost friends on the field of France, and men and women are still fighting in trenches. The obsession with our past conflicts is more relevant than ever, which makes this production of War Horse even more timely.
‘That was the best play I have ever seen! I flinched, I laughed, and I cried,’ enthused my son as we headed for Waterloo Station, before adding, ‘That’s not something you want to see after a production of War Horse.’ I looked up to watch a London bus speeding by with the words, ‘British Army Recruiting Now’ emblazoned across it.
Olivier Theatre until 30th July
Booking and full details: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/war-horse/
