I took a trip to NYC this weekend and was fortunate enough to get tickets to see War Horse at the Lincoln Center. (The theatre just recently started a new discount program called LincTix in May and it allows 21-35 year olds to get $30 tickets to any of their shows –membership is free!). If you guys haven’t hear about War Horse then I’ll give you a quick overlook. The play started off in London and was first produced on Broadway about a year ago. Adapted from a children’s book, War Horse is, simply put, the story of a young boy, Albert, and his relationship with his horse, Joey, amidst the tension of World War I.
The incredible horses, which were created by Handspring Puppet Company *check them out*, are operated by three puppeteers (the head, heart and hind). Let me just tell you how unbelievably magical these puppets are to watch. The details that must have been painstakenly put into the creation of the horses along with the highly specific movements of the puppet on stage are unlike anything I’ve seen. The simple realistic breath of the horse was enough to give in to the illusion of this large mammal to exist in a theatre. The show was enthralling, passionate and inspiring. Everyone should try and see this show next time they are in New York.
It’s one of the few shows that I felt completely transformed into the world of the play and thought of nothing else but what was in front of me. My whole body was glued to the action of the stage. After the show, and after my personal recovery from leaving its special world, I started to think about the dramaturgical aspects of the play. First of all there is the obvious need to understand the issues surrounding World War I. I was much more interested in the amount of research and exploration the actors, designers and directors had to spend focusing on horses. As I said before, these details were so specific and so dead-on that there had to be an extensive about of inspiration derived from directly working with actual horses. From the technical aspects of how the horse moves his limbs when he runs vs when he trots, to the wide range of vocal variations the horse uses (which the actors produced all on their own), to the small twitches, breaths and ticks of the horse standing motionless. What an exciting undertaking to explore. I want to be a part of this. I want to get my hands on this kind of inspiration. I just think it was overwhelming how much I wanted to experience what these designers and actors must have gone through. The immense power of puppetry was reinforced in my theatrical/creative brain. It’s an area of theatre that allows such an amazing amount of possibilities and creatively to get audiences to just believe.
Here’s a great look at the Handspring creation of Joey, if you want to learn more.
