The original play, which debuted at the National Theatre in 2007, decided to use life-size wooden puppets to create the horses which would be moved by members of the crew on stage in what was called “horse choreography”.

The element that really brings the whole adaptation together are the horses: it's fair to say that the success of the stage adaptation hinged on them. The theatre's solution was smart, smooth, and breathed new life into Morpurgo's classic. The theatre's solution was smart, smooth and breathed new life into Morpurgo's classic. Trying to bring to life a story that relies so heavily on animals is never an easy job. However, as a play it's a different matter entirely. As a children's book, the use of the horse as a narrator is a smart way of telling the stories of the frontline in a way that isn't too traumatising for its target audience.

War Horse is narrated by a horse called Joey as he goes through life in the 1910s, first as a farm horse and then on the front lines of the First World War, and the attempts of his first owner, Albert, to get him back. Even Morpurgo himself reportedly said that “they must be mad” to attempt a stage adaptation when the idea first came about. Staging a much-beloved book as a play creates enough pressure – when the book in question involves a multitude of horses as the backbone of the story, the challenge rises to a whole new level. The show contains loud sound FX, gunfire, flashing lights and strobe lighting.On paper, adapting Michael Morpurgo's modern children's classic War Horse into a stage play seems like a very tall order. Running Time: 2 hours 45 minutes, including a 20 minute interval At its heart are astonishing life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage. Though still not old enough to enlist he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.īased on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. Albert, who remained on his parents’ Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. The National Theatre’s internationally acclaimed production of War Horse has been seen by over 8 million people in 11 countries, an unforgettable theatrical event which takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France.Īt the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France.

War horse book