There was a gentle tap on my shoulder. ‘Sorry to disturb you,’ said the charming lady sat behind me, ‘but I just know I’m going to start blubbing the moment he appears on the stage. I blubbed all the way through when I last saw the show two years ago.’ I was sat in the stalls of the Bristol Hippodrome, awaiting the arrival on stage of Joey, the life-size horse puppet from War Horse. Joey has that impact on people; he’s a bona fide star with a devoted following, as evidenced by the hundreds who had turned up just to see him demonstrated.
A prosaic description of this remarkable puppet would tell you that it is constructed from cane, leather and aluminium, that it weighs about 50 kilos, and that it is operated by three puppeteers. When it is stationary it is very obviously a puppet, for much of its supportive framework is visible, as are the puppeteers themselves. It does not have the kind of realism we would see in, say, an equestrian statue. But when Joey moves, ‘it’ magically becomes ‘he’, a living, breathing horse. Every movement of Joey’s ears or flick of his tail conveys emotion. When he walks, trots or gallops – and, yes, he really can gallop – the effect is astonishing. ‘I can remember Joey vividly from when I last saw him,’ said that lady, ‘but funnily enough, I don’t remember seeing the puppeteers at all.’ Joey works this magic every time.
Bristol has a very strong connection with War Horse. Tom Morris, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, was encouraged by his mother to read Michael Morpugo’s children’s novel, War Horse. He was so impressed he began to wonder if it could be made into a stage show. He had been hugely impressed by the work of South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company. They were brought on board the project, as was Tom’s fellow director Marianne Elliott, and the rest is history. Adapted from the novel by Nick Stafford, the show was premiered at the National Theatre in 2007. It has since been seen by over seven million people worldwide. Tom would have been in the Hippodrome for the launch of the National Theatre’s forthcoming tour, but he was in London collecting an OBE from The Queen. Congratulations Tom!
Puppetry director Matthew Forbes gave fascinating talk when demonstrating Joey, explaining how the puppet evolved from a series of prototypes. There was also a beautiful, evocative song about the changing seasons from Ben Murray, who plays Songman in the show. He and Joey went on to make a special lunch-time appearance at Cabot Circus.
War Horse will return to the Hippodrome on October 18th 2017, and will run until November 11th. It was a sell-out last time, and there is every reason to believe that it will be a sell-out again. Make sure you book your tickets early! Mike Whitton 16th March 2016
