War Horse

When the British children’s author Michael Morpurgo wrote War Horse in 1982, he thought it would be impossible to adapt for theater or film. How could anyone stage the epic tale of a boy’s quest to find his beloved horse after his father sells it to the British Army during World War I without turning the theater into a barnyard, if not a circus?

We wonder how it feels to be so gloriously wrong. Working with South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, London’s National Theatre used ingenious stagecraft to breathe thrilling life into horse puppets that rear, stomp, snort, and gallop across the stage. They’re so authentic, some actors feel the need to pet them during rehearsals. With the horses in the saddle and a stirring musical score to amplify the tale of courage and loyalty, the play went on to win five Tonys on Broadway, became a Steven Spielberg movie that garnered six Academy Award nominations, and was even reimagined as a ballet.

Read our review: "The touring production of the Broadway show War Horse is a marvel of puppetry and technical production. The horses shiver, twitch, and breathe; the swallows swoop; the crows bristle. The staging, too, is an exceptionally imaginative cross of minimalist props and set with high tech sound and lighting design. Unfortunately, the puppets have more personality, texture, and soul than most of the human characters, to say nothing of the lackluster script. Although the show tickles the visual pleasure center of the brain, it barely ventures into the heart..."