The Marlowe
A gift horse

A gift horse

Thu 14 Sep 2017
War Horse has been described as an unforgettable theatrical event - bringing to amazing life a novel its author, Michael Morpurgo, thought was ‘unstageable’. As it opens at our theatre at the start of a major regional tour, we take a look at some of the facts behind its amazing journey, and learn a bit more about the puppets which have brought it to life.

The Show

  • War Horse was first performed at the National Theatre on 9 October 2007, meaning that it’s tenth birthday will be celebrated during its run at our theatre!
  • It has since been by nearly ten million people in 11 countries, including the USA, China and South Africa.
  • It has been performed in many other languages, including German and Chinese.
  • A War Horse Prom took place at the Royal Albert Hall in 2014, and featured original music from the play.
  • That’s not the only time War Horse has featured at the Royal Albert Hall – one of the songs which features in the play, Only Remembered, was performed by composer John Tams at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on 9 November 2014.
  • Famous faces who have seen War Horse include (deep breath): The Queen, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Prince William and Prince Harry, Michael Caine, Rupert Everett, Ethan Hawke, James Earl Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Keira Knightley, Annie Lennox, Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Miranda Richardson, Alan Rickman, Meg Ryan, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Hilary Swank, Alec Baldwin, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross, Diane Keaton, William Shatner, Barbara Walters, Hugh Jackman, Ricki Lake, Kate Winslet, George Lucas, Blythe Danner, Joan Rivers, John McEnroe, Queen Latifah, Martin Sheen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Billy Crystal, Sting, Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, Michael Buble, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Martin Clunes, Liza Minnelli, Nicole Scherzinger, Gary Barlow, Sir Bob Geldof, Tom Daley, Philip Schofield, Tana Ramsay, John Hurt, Natalie Gumede, Sir Steve Redgrave, Bill Bailey, Elizabeth Jagger, Greg Rutherford, Mary Berry, Terry Wogan and Ronnie Wood. (Phew – quite a list, eh?)
  • The show has won 26 major awards across the world.

The Puppets

  • The show’s famous horse puppets were created by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company.
  • It takes 14 craftspeople eight months to make a complete set of 23 War Horse puppets (as well as several horses, the show also features other animals, including a goose).
  • Joey, Topthorn and Joey as a Foal are each operated by three puppeteers – the Head, the Heart and the Hind. The three puppeteers work together to create the character of each horse and to produce the horse noises.
  • The puppeteers need to be fit – each adult horse puppet weighs approximately 43 kilos for the body, including the puppeteers’ backpacks, and another 7.7 kilos for the head.
  • The puppeteers train for eight weeks before they begin performing. Their training includes basic principles of puppetry before they work specifically on creating the horses.

War Horse: Friday 15 September to Saturday 14 October 2017. Tickets are still available!