As an actress and fan of theatre, I was extremely excited to get the chance to see a play at my local theatre, especially a show as highly recommended as ‘War Horse’. My school gave me the opportunity to see the play, as for their GCSE drama study. 

‘War Horse’ follows the story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey as they grow up together. The play was based on the novel ‘War Horse’ written by children’s author Michael Morpurgo. Morpurgo’s books were part of my childhood - I grew up reading his books. Some of my favourites included: ‘The Butterfly Lion’, ‘The Wreck of the Zanzibar’, ‘Private Peaceful’ and, of course, ‘War Horse’. Before I watched the play, the details of the story had faded from my memory, although I did remember wondering how the horses were going to be brought alive on stage. Even Morpurgo initially thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play based on ‘War Horse’.

The most obvious, unique aspect of play was the puppets used to create the horses and other animals. The ‘horses’ were pupeteered by 2-3 people, depending on the horse. This meant every part of the horse could be controlled, which made the horses so realistic that I nearly forgot that weren’t real horses! The way the human characters on stage connected with the animals made them even more realistic. I also loved the way the various animals interacted with each other. Especially memorable was the goose, who made the whole audience laugh by chasing characters off the stage.  

Another few parts of the play that I found intriguing, was the use of a single singer, who performed during transitions between scenes. The singing helped to enhance the mood without being obtrusive. I liked the use of wooden pole props to symbolize stables and the way they were easy to understand, while still being simple. 

I was excited and somewhat nervous to see the play; I had heard the high praise given to the play but also had thoroughly enjoyed the book. I had never really seen a book-to play adaptation. With book-to-movie adaptations, I nearly always find movies disappointing compared to books. Books have the ability to establish and develop characters in ways unlike any other type of story, which leads to a deeper connection with the story overall. Movies, television and plays tend to bring the same connection in different way, by engaging your visual and auditory senses. For me, this was the reason ‘War Horse’ was so exceptional. It managed to secure a deep connection between the audience and characters, alongside its visual beauty and creativity. This was most apparent during the final moments of the play which elicited a very emotional response from nearly every audience member. I myself shed a few tears and the girls sitting beside me were, quite frankly, sobbing. This is testament to the thoughtfulness and magical qualities of the play. So, stop horsing around and go and see ‘War Horse’!