War Horse--A Review

                It’s hard to adequately explain the impact “War Horse” can have on someone. At first glance or when first hearing of it, when the word “puppets” comes up someone can become a little apprehensive. But it’s a lot more than just the hand puppets someone is normally used to. I’ll be the first to admit, I kind of had an image in my head of a horse puppet running around with someone carrying it looking crazy. Not sure if this is relevant, but I related it to the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and the end when Peter, the main character, puts on his ridiculous “Dracula: The Musical” performance with people carrying the puppets wearing black body suit type leotards. Yes, that sounds ridiculous and I honestly thought that is what I was in for. When Olmert told us we had no hearts if we didn’t cry, I kind of just chuckled like, “Yeah, right Olmert. Puppets making someone cry? OOOOOOOOO-kay.”

But he was right.

                When first walking up to the theater going into the play you’re met with a poster and on it you see nothing but the two brown eyes of a horse and with an unmistakable tear in his eyes. Surrounding the picture are various reviews from different reviewers including one that said “It will leave you crying all the way back to your car.” Among others commending the play for its beauty and ability to capture the emotions of the audience. I gave up on trying to make the connection between the emotional state and puppets and decided to open-mindedly go into the play.

                War Horse is an experience in itself—yes, there are puppets. But they are more than puppets. The puppets come alive and make you believe you’re seeing live horses on stage. The emotions the characters feel for these animals are amazing. You begin to think differently about those animals you have  at home or the animals you see roaming the streets. The connections between the animals and the main characters leap off the stage and are right in front of you—the emotions are palpable. That is another thing about this play—you can see the emotions between the animals and the characters and it’s so cool. The puppet horses display such emotions in their movements that you know what they’re thinking without them having to say anything. Displaying emotion is something many actors have issues with so seeing puppets do it was miraculous.

                War Horse is amazing—there isn’t much else to say. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll want to go out and buy a horse. At the globe theatre today, an eight-year old boy describe it perfectly—when I asked him what he liked about is so much, he just smiled and said, “It was just so moving.” And for once, I agreed with an eight-year old.

This is how close we were--third row!!

Love from London,

Lauren