WAR HORSE at the Olivier theatre until 30 July 2026
‘Powerful, poignant and stunning’ ★★★★ ½
Of course it’s sentimental with a strong futility-of-war and sympathy-for-animals message. It’s based on a Michael Morpurgo story and that’s what he does. And, actually War Horse (1982) isn’t, by a long chalk, his best novel. But, in Nick Stafford’s adaptation it makes stunning theatre. And, since Joey first galloped onto the Olivier Stage in 2007, War Horse has become the most successful and most widely seen production in National Theatre’s history. It has been on other London stages and toured all round the world. Nearly 9 million people have seen it.
Now, nearly twenty years after its debut, it is back where it all began – in the Olivier’s lofty, but somehow intimate space, and making fine use of every inch of the huge stage under Tom Morris’s direction. It’s a show which has developed a lot since I saw it in its first run and again later at New London Theatre.
A run down on the plot in case it has somehow passed you by for two decades: We’re in rural Devon in about 1913 where a colt is sold to a farmer who allows his son Albert (Tom Sturgess - delightful) to train it. A tight fraternal bond develops between boy and horse but they are separated when war is declared and the farmer sells Joey to the army. Later, underage Albert signs up because he wants to search for Joey and, eventually, there’s a heart-in-mouth reunion and not a dry eye in the house – literally, looking at the people round me on press night.
At the heart of all this, of course, is Handspring’s remarkable, evocative, life-size puppetry. Joey, controlled by three people, moves, sounds and behaves like a horse. The audience makes the leap and the huge, jointed creation just is – a horse. There’s something near-magical about it which is one of the reasons this show is so popular. Moreover, developing these extraordinary puppets for the original production was so innovative that it put Handspring firmly on the map and has influenced puppetry and the way it is used in theatre ever since.
The opening night was dedicated to Adrian Sutton, composer of the War Horse score who died last year. His music – some recorded but with on stage military band and a narrator-singer (Sally Swanson) – is perfectly in keeping with period and mood, directed for this new production by Dom Coyote. There are a lot of George Butterworth hints in the rural scenes for example and Sutton makes fine use of folk or folk-style songs and of upbeat poignant First World War songs such as “Goodbye Dolly I must Leave you.” Some of the fortissimo filmic music for devasting battle scenes seems a bit like a corny trick, however. Swanson, meanwhile, sings with lyrical sweetness and a sort of resigned innocence as she punctuates the action, often accompanying herself on accordion.
The huge ensemble includes puppeteers, villagers, soldiers and dozens of small roles, every one of them a rounded character. The projected back drop above the warn-torn wall gives automated drawings of people, landscapes and onslaught. And full marks to Christopher Shutt for his sound design and Rob Casey for the lighting. Between them they make the war scenes so realistic and inclusive that it’s terrifying.
It is often forgotten that War Horse was meant to be a novel for young readers. And the original production ran over Christmas as that year’s NT family show. Yes, you could still take your 8 year old, as a few people did on press night, and s/he would certainly enjoy it. Actually, though, it’s a show whose universality by-passes all that. It works for everyone. And it may have been around for twenty years but Tom Morris makes it feel fresh – however many times you may have seen it before.
Photography credit: Brinkhof-Moegenberg
