It was called "The Great War" and "The War to End all Wars," but World War I is now relatively ignored in the legacy of wars that followed. In War Horse at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater, World War I is the background for the most gripping theatrical event of this season. Co-directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, it is about a boy and a horse. It is also about how millions of horses were traditionally sent into battle until the use barbed wire, machine guns and heavy artillery signified the end of the cavalry. Technology had taken over.
There are no famous names leading the War Horse cast. In fact, you will probably not remember the names of most company members, but there is one you will definitely remember -- Joey. Joey is a puppet, although there are moments when you almost forget he is not a real horse. Even with evident puppeteers doing their manipulating, Joey elicits sympathy, laughs, tears. From the moment Joey as a foal struggles to approach the front of the stage, the audience is seduced.
Seth Numrich is memorable as Albert Narracott, a 16-year-old boy living on a struggling farm. Albert's mother, Rose, is a hard-worker, is portrayed with a tough skin but tender heart by Alyssa Bresnahan. Ted, his alcoholic, mean-tempered father portrayed by Boris McGiver, was always competitive with his own brother (T. Ryder Smith) who was wounded in the Boar War while Ted stayed home, viewed as a ne'er-do-well. After a segment of drunken overbidding with his brother, Ted finds he has acquired a horse that is a hunter, useless for farm work. Albert, however, forms a bond with the horse, names him Joey and the two become inseparable, understanding each other's signals and moods. When war breaks out, Albert's father sells the horse to the cavalry, leaving his son inconsolable. Albert runs away, lies about his age and joins the infantry, determined to find Joey, who has already been sent to France.
The harsh savagery of war is potent in this production with dramatic contrast between the boy and his horse riding across the bucolic countryside of Devon and the barrage and annihilation on French battlefields. The tension of battle builds, offering notable performances. As Albert, Seth Numrich is compelling, catching the heart of the audience as forcefully as Joey. David (David Pegram) is a young infantryman who becomes Albert's friend and in whom Albert confides. Their innocence as teenaged boys is challenged when they are thrust into the bombardment, digging trenches, struggling to survive and suffering wounds. Touching performances also come from two officers: Lieutenant James Nicholls is a local artist from Devon played by Stephen Plunkett, who promises Albert he will take care of Joey. Peter Hermann is convincing as a sympathetic German officer, Hauptmann Friedrich Muller, who loves horses and at a vital point, saves the wounded Joey by having him pull an ambulance cart.
The sets by Rae Smith, who also designed costumes and drawings, are spare but dramatically lighted by Paule Constable, and kudos to the explosive sound design by Christopher Shutt. What looks like a banner of torn paper is slashed across the sky, with Smith's drawings, dates, and projections. Two balladeers, Kate Pfaffl and Liam Robinson, further add to the era's ambiance.
The stars of this production, however, are Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of the Handspring Puppet Company who lead other puppeteers to bring alive the horses with amazing movement and expressiveness. Other touches of puppetry include flying birds, ravenous crows and the whimsy of an audaciously self-confident goose.
In England, Michael Morpurgo wrote the original children's novel that was later adapted by Nick Stafford with the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. War Horse premiered in 2007 at the National Theatre in London. The story occasionally leans toward sentimentality, yet its simple progression of plot persuasively balances the love of a boy and his horse with the horrors of war and the relentless tension of stultifying fear and the fierce scramble to survive.
While War Horse tells a dramatic, action-packed tale, there are no high-tech helicopters, tanks, or high-wire swings across the theater. The trauma of war is trenchantly evoked by expert lighting and sound and carefully-crafted puppetry movements. War Horse is a tribute to creativity and imagination and how it can produce an emotionally memorable and riveting theater experience.
