Anna Burnside reviews the latest tour of the highly-acclaimed production.
One of the smartest things about War Horse, the National Theatre’s world-slaying adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel, is its slow start. This is potentially a flaw, but here it’s essential. We first see Joey, half hunter, half draught horse, as a feisty pony in an expansive first act that sets up the key relationships that will play out in the rest of the drama.
And while we are meeting young Albert, a horse whisperer in a flat cap, his sozzled father, family rock mother, arrogant uncle and obnoxious cousin, we are becoming more and more invested in this astonishing construction of latex and metal.
Then Joey goes to war, Albert follows and the horrors of the trenches are graphically realised with haze, projections and an increasingly strident soundscape.
Morpurgo wrote War Horse for children, and it is, on one level, All Quiet on the ‘Black Beauty’ Front. Making animals the emotional centre is, in clumsy hands, a cheap trick. Yet using puppets - wonderful, intricate puppets, skilfully operated by up to three actors at a time - adds the extra layer that elevates this show into something really special.
Joey, the other horses, and even a honking goose on wheels that provides much needed comic relief, are the stars, but Tom Sturgess is irresistible as young Albert. Scot Sally Swanson does a great job as the singer whose folk tunes are part narration, part scene-setting.
The whole ensemble is consistently impressive, switching roles, switching puppets, putting on a show that deserves all its accolades. It’s not tricksy, there’s no irony or winks to the audience, history is not interpreted through a 21st-century filter. Instead, it’s a strong story, vividly told using contemporary theatrical devices that complement rather than detract from the period detail.
There were lots of families and school parties in the Festival Theatre. If that was their introduction to theatre, the bar is set high.
War Horse performs at the Festival Theatre until October 11, 2025. It then continues its UK tour. For further details, go to the production’s website.
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