Review: WAR HORSE, The Lowry - Tour

Photo credit: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

Based on the 1982 Michael Morpurgo novel, the National Theatre’s world-renowned production of War Horse is once again gracing stages across the nation and embarking on a UK & Ireland tour.

Directed by Tom Morris and Katie Henry, the story follows the journey of a young boy named Albert and Joey the horse. Albert’s father wins Joey as a foal at auction, and the boy and horse bond as Albert trains him to work on the farm. The pair get separated as World War I begins and both Albert and Joey fight, both for survival and to find each other again.

Undoubtedly the most iconic part of the stage adaptation of War Horse is the puppetry that brings Joey and the other animals featured in the story to life. Joey appears as a foal at the beginning of the production and is puppeteered by Diany Samba-Bandza, Jordan Paris, and Eloise Beaumont-Wood, and with the larger horse puppets of Joey and Topthorn being such a prominent part of the show and such physically demanding roles, there is a talented team of twelve puppeteers who play the roles in rotation at different horses. Each puppeteer controls a different part of the horse’s body and when we attended, we were lucky enough to witness Rianna Ash (head), Chris Milford (heart), and Thomas Goodridge (hind) playing Joey, and Matthew Lawrence (head), Rafe Young (heart), and Felicity Donnelly (hind) playing Topthorn. Together, with the puppetry direction of Matthew Forbes and Lewis Howard, and the horse choreography from Toby Sedgwick, this incredible team of puppeteers bring life to the intricately designed and engineered puppets made by Adrian Kohler and create realistic and expressive animals onstage that have a pivotal part in telling the story.

Sharing the stage with the puppeteers and puppets is a fantastic ensemble of actors who tell Morpurgo’s compelling story with such compassion and earnestness. At several moments throughout the production, the ensemble provides a beautiful chorus of voices, led by singer Sally Swanson, to add to the mood of both the wonderful and more sombre scenes. One of the most notable performances comes from Tom Sturgess who plays Albert Narracott – a role that requires a certain vulnerability which Sturgess absolutely nails.

Rae Smith is the designer for War Horse and creatively has made the backdrop of the performance space what appears to be a torn piece of parchment paper from the sketch book of Lieutenant Nicholls’ sketch book; Initially, in the preset, it is a blank page, waiting for an artist to come along and create a story to be told on the page, and as Lieutenant Nicholls begins to draw in his sketchbook at the top of the show, the fields of Devon come alive to set up the first scene. Smith’s drawings combined with the animation and projection design of Nicol Scott and Ben Pearcy transport the action from Devon, to the French countryside, to the trenches of the Somme. By using a sketchbook style for set design, the story feels more intimate and raw, as if the audience are viewing a soldier’s firsthand experience of the war being documented through their own artwork.

With a story set in the midst of battle at WW1 trenches, there is a great amount of tension in certain scenes, and it is imperative that these high stakes are encapsulated by all elements of the production. Throughout the whole show, Rob Casey’s lighting, the sound design by Christopher Shutt and movement direction from Toby Sedgwick all work together exquisitely, but it is the battle scenes set in No Man’s Land where the collaboration of all these creatives, cast, and puppeteers really comes to fruition. Filled with dramatic tension, these moments of the show are truly spellbinding and leave the audience holding their breath.

Now a modern classic, the National Theatre’s War Horse is thoroughly captivating and an absolute tearjerker. The entire production is phenomenal thanks to the many cast and creatives that have come together to tell a story that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. And when it comes to the talents that bring horses Joey and Topthorn to life right before the audience’s eyes, the puppeteers are a force to be reckoned with and are a true credit to both this production and their craft as a whole.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Jess Dalloway

War Horse plays at The Lowry until 28 September before continuing its tour. To book tickets for select touring venues, please click here.