War Horse was showing in the National Theatre in London and we went to see it. The theatre outside was very drab, which didn't do much to help my impressions. When we got inside, the stage was very drab, with no color, props or anything to give any clue as to what the show was. The only thing on the stage was a big sheet - painted to look like the sky - mounted on the wall as a backdrop. War Horse started with Joey in the field, just after he had been born and then proceeded to when Albert sees Joey for the first time. After the scene in the field, there is a market at which Albert's dad - Mr Aracot - buys Joey because he looks like such a fine colt. Albert is delighted but him mum - Mrs Aracot - is furious. She asked how they were going to plow the field with "that". All through the performance there were amazing special effects including quick transitions, e.g. When the farmers danced on with big long poles which you'd presume were their forks or spades. The farmers then proceeded to line up in a circle and then as one, put their sticks horizontally to form the auctioneers ring! There were some brilliant props, including an huge tank, two stunning, lifelike horses and lots of animals; the goose in particular was very life-like. There were an awful lot of actors involved and they all performed to perfection - especially the actors who made the horses move, they did an amazing job. My favourite part was when they did the charge as it was so powerful and gripping. The puppets - although you can hardly call them that as they are so lifelike - appear to be completely alive. There's only one word for how amazingly beautiful and realistic they are. Stunning. It's really heart rending when the troops come off the ships with their horses and there are the walking wounded going back to Britain. Most of the wounded would have been blinded by the gas deployed by the Germans. The symptoms of gas poisoning are blisters, lung failure, loss of sight and eventual death.
This influenced my design skills of the Happy Potters website by showing me how powerful minimalistic design can be. War Horse looked like it had lots and lots of special effects and props but when you look a little closer, you see that it was quite minimal. The puppets made the entire show come to life but really they were quite simple, one person did the rear of the horse, another did the front and a third did the facial expressions and the head of the horse.
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