upfront
A SHOW AS
STRONG AS A HORSE
As the world famous
adaptation of War Horse
trots onto the stage at the
Wales Millennium Centre,
we horse around with
some of the cast and find
out more about the show.
W
hen children’s author Micheal
Morpurgo wrote his tale of a boy and
his horse who become separated
because of war, he never imagined
that the story he created would one day become an
award-winning stage show that would travel the world,
be seen by the Queen and inspire Stephen Spielberg.
“It’s not a play, it’s not a musical, it’s a unique
theatrical event,” stated Morpurgo about the show
“Even so I had no notion at all that it would catch on
and that, seven years later, nearly five million people
would have seen it worldwide!”
The production, which will be marching its way to
the Wales Millennium Centre this month, combines
music, actors and handspring puppetry to portray
the separation of two friends during World War One.
It is arguably these puppets, which are made of
aluminium and leather and take eight months to
build, that have made the show so iconic. It was the
puppets, however, that had Morpurgo worried about
the adaptation.
“All I could think of was pantomime horses and I
thought ‘hang on, they’re telling a story of the First
World War, how can they make that work with puppets?’
It wasn’t until the first night of the play itself and I
BUZZ 20
BUZZ 20
could feel both the silence and emotion that came
from the stage.”
The central long-faced character is Joey the horse,
but weighing over 50 kilos Joey has to be operated by
three puppeteers: David Emming who operates the
head, Stuart Angell who makes up the heart of the
horse and Michael Brett who controls the hind.
“You get used to the feeling of it and after a while it
stops being exhausting,” explains Brett, although
Angell disagrees. “I’m always exhausted, every show,”
he laughs.
Once the three men start working with the puppet
they cease to be referred to as individuals and,
instead, act as one singular horse: Joey.
“Tom Morris, who directed the show, a while ago said
he found himself in rehearsals asking Joey to move
around somewhere,” explains Brett. “Even he was
surprised by himself.”
With the three of them having to work in unison to
make Joey the puppet look like Joey the horse, it
feels like it would be safe to assume that all their
moves are heavily choreographed.
“There are a couple of moments in the show that are
choreographed,” states Angell; “there is a framework
to the show but within that framework there is a lot
of improvisation for the horses. A lot of the process
is about how to work together, how to communicate
non-verbally and how we can create this lifelike
animal. The three of us, on an unconscious level,
have to move as one.”
War Horse’s resident puppetry director, Jimmy
Grimes, adds to this:
“Once they’re inside that horse they try to think as
much like a horse as possible. Obviously within the
show they have to fulfil certain parts where they’ve
got to move into certain positions for lights