“Only remembered for what we have done,” but the UK Tour of War Horse won't be forgotten in a hurry by anybody who has been blessed enough to see it. Following the story of 16-year-old Albert Narracott and his beloved foal turned war horse, Joey, this production has something for everyone.
Tom Sturgess shone in the lead role of Albert Narracott, exhibiting brilliant acting and clear articulation throughout, helping the audience to empathise with both actor and horse alike. The wonderful horse puppets wowed the audience as their puppeteers skillfully danced around the stage, giving hyper-realistic twitches and bounds which made you forget that you weren't watching a live animal at times. All of the costumes and props were impressive and helped to portray the setting and time period clearly to the audience, with the action being broken up by the occasional song a welcome addition.
I especially enjoyed the use of the shadow puppetry and projection of images onto the screen above the stage. This ensured it was always clear to the audience at each given moment what was happening, and the way it was seamlessly blended into the action on stage was magnificent to watch.
As you might expect from a play centred around the First World War trenches, there were gunshots galore which were cleverly portrayed by the lighting team, however at other times it did feel a bit like they were trying to blind us with their handheld spotlights, actually resulting in movement on stage being missed due to me having to shut my eyes.
In my opinion, the play dragged on for too long, coming in with a runtime of over two and a half hours including the interval, and some of the dialogue was unclear to make out what was being said – although I was sat at the very top of the auditorium and sound often gets distorted more up there.
The occasional comedic moments helped to lighten the mood in an otherwise sombre story, however overall it felt more like a show to be appreciated rather than enjoyed due to the serious nature of the plot.
War Horse managed to combine several rarely seen aspects of theatre and weave them together into an unforgettable retelling of a much beloved novel, and if you're looking for something special to see, then it might just be for you.
War Horse is at Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton until the 22nd of March 2025, and you can book tickets for the show here.
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