War Horse, EFT, Review

From fragile foal to stalwart steed, War Horse takes us on a moving journey showing the bond of love and loyalty between a boy and his horse.

This multi-award winning show that premiered in 2007 is based on the novel by former children’s laureate, Michael Morpurgo. The personal tale of young Devonshire lad, Albert Narracott (Lee Armstrong), and his close relationship with his belovèd horse, Joey, that he has trained since a foal, is set against the horrors of the First World War.

When the recruiting officers come calling with the fatal words “Fear God. Honour the King” and offering the said King’s shilling, Albert is too young to enlist, but Joey is commandeered to serve.

Starting off on the British side, Joey ends up with the Germans. Meanwhile young Albert, like so many others, lies about his age and signs up so he can be reunited with Joey.

By the nature of Morpurgo’s benign view of life and his text having been written for children, the harsh and crude edges of the realities of war, while not ignored, are smoothed out and shown in an acceptable light. As a small example, the cussing of Sergeant Thunder (Sean McKenzie) at his troops only goes as far as ‘effing’, a polite consideration unlikely to be given by such a man in real life.

However, while the story itself is light and worthy, it is the strength of the puppetry from South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company and the breath-taking graphics from designer Rae Smith that lift the piece to the unique.

A white gash of jagged sky like a giant piece of blotting paper serves as the backdrop to the drawings that shift from the gentle sketches by Captain Nicholls (Finn Hanlon) of quiet Devon country life to the deafening explosions of shell on a foreign field.

It represents the bit of page torn from the soldier’s sketchbook by Albert that had been sent to him after the Captain’s death. That shred of paper held an image of Joey that Albert carried with him as another would have carried a sweetheart’s love letter.

Rae Smith’s work is aimed at the ‘poetic’ rather than ‘documentary realism’ and it achieves that aim in spades. Her imagery of the destruction is influenced by the early 20th century art movement Vorticism; her movement drawings of Joey by photographer Eadweard Muybridge and the effect is astounding. They are brilliantly realised thanks to the video skills of Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for 59 Productions Ltd.

The strong team of puppeteers bring vitality to these life size puppets to a degree where disbelief is easily suspended. Their presence is necessarily visible but with the puppeteers mastery they become essentially invisible not just because of the beautifully blending colours of their costumes but because of their supreme mastery of their craft.

From the stiff-legged, innocent foal born in the innocent time of 1912, whose nervous breathing is practically palpable, to the spirited beast that Albert rides over the Devon fields, Joey is thoroughly alive on stage.

Equally, the birds, and especially the comical goose (Joseph Richardson), though clearly mechanical take on a life of their own thanks to their clever manipulators.

The colossal amount of costumes required for the 34-strong cast are sourced and made with sensitivity for the piece. For example, the officers’ uniforms were made in London from fabric made in Yorkshire and the British soldiers’ uniforms were made in Pakistan in the factory that made the original WW1 uniforms. And of course the ensemble cast brings its own strength in scenes like the vividly created sea crossing and at the start of the war when new recruits chillingly see their future before them crushed and limping towards a white light.

With the problem French and German having to be expressed somehow in English, there is an unavoidable tipping in to ‘Allo ‘Allo mode that creates some humour.

North East English folk singer Bob Fox adds poignancy as the singing narrator between scenes with traditional sounding songs accompanied at times with his squeeze box. The old Boer war song Goodbye Dolly Gray weaves its way through the piece, tugging at the heart strings with every line.

Michael Morpurgo describes this work as an ‘anthem of peace’ which is especially fitting in this commemoration year of the World War 1 whose atrocities made ‘countless thousands mourn’. This is the only theatre of war people should be watching.

Edinburgh is the only Scottish date in this year’s UK and Irish tour of War Horse, following Joey’s guest appearances at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August 2013.

Show times

Premium seats up to £65 | General Tickets £50 - £20*