War Horse is a theatrical masterpiece. In the atmosphere and projections of images related to World War I, puppeteers bring constructed horses to vivid life as they create the illusion of living breathing animals with intricacy, subtlety and nuance in the movements, lifted and sustained by the music, sound and projections.
With a simple plot early on -- good guy vs. bad guy and who gets the horse, we are shown a pageant of a lifestyle lifted by a chorus and Irish folky singing. Julie Taymor was the pioneer - this show stands on her shoulders as two huge horses cavort on the stage. The bloody war scenes, with amazing visual effects, are breathtaking. I have not seen an epic like this since Meyerhold at the Hippodrome in the 1930's.
War Horse is basically a love story -- a man and his horse. Adapted by Nick Stafford from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, brilliantly directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, exquisitely designed by Rae Smith, movement and horse movement by Toby Sedgwick, with lighting by Paule Constable, with puppet design and direction by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, with a cast of solid, believable actors, War Horse is a thrilling, unforgettable theatrical adventure.
