REVIEW: War Horse
Photo by Brinkhoff/Mogenburg
Last night I was invited to see War Horse at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis.
War Horse is a remarkable tale of courage, loyalty and friendship. England, 1914. As World War One begins, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped from England to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home. This powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized puppets created by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to life on the stage.
It’s my opinion that War Horse was brought to the stage largely for the challenge of it. It’s a story that includes multiple locations, war scenes, language barriers and animals as star characters. The beauty of War Horse is seeing how beautifully these “challenges” are achieved. I found myself consistently noticing all the wonderful details regarding the scenes and the storytelling that were brought together in this challenging piece. It was like viewing and appreciating an art exhibit.
The plot is rather simplistic and predictable but is still intense given the dramatic scenes portrayed so well. I give them a lot of credit for making a play intense as this is often difficult to achieve. The subject matter is largely dark, focusing on war and animal cruelty but there is the underlying love story and humor sprinkled in as well. As with the plot, I often found the humor to be predictable but the audience was getting in quite a few chuckles, which helped to break up the dark moments.
With respect to the puppetry, my expectations were high! War Horse is famous for how the horses are portrayed via sophisticated puppets*. The beginning is slow when the main horse Joey is merely a foal. During these scenes, I found myself glued to the puppeteers, observing how focused they were on their role. Once Joey grew to an attention-demanding-sized adult horse, it was easier to ignore the puppeteers.
War Horse is at the Orpheum through June 23rd. Tickets start at $39.
DEAL ALERT: Student/teacher rush tickets are available for all performances. 2 tickets per valid school ID, $25 per ticket, cash only; student/educator must be present with valid ID at time of purchase; resale of rush tickets is strictly prohibited and all tickets are subject to availability.
* If you’re interested in the puppetry, be sure to rent The Making of War Horse, which is available on Netflix.