War Horse depicts the First World War from the perspective of a farm horse commandeered by the army, and his teenage owner, who signs up and experiences the horror of the trenches while searching for his beloved animal. It has been rightly praised for the amazing life-size horse puppets. Intricately jointed and operated by three people each, their movements are incredibly life-like, right down to the twitching of an ear, the flicking of a tail. The puppeteers even combine their voices to produce a range of convincing horse noises.
What makes this even more impressive is that there is no attempt at absolute realism; the puppets although perfectly shaped, are not covered with paint or fur, they are just wooden frameworks with the puppeteers clearly visible. But there is something magical about theatre that acknowledges its artifice in this way, especially when the artifice is so ingenious. The audience can get completely caught up in the absolute horsey-ness of these creatures, while simultaneously admiring the craft behind the illusion. Indeed, I found I could flip between the two states of perception, as though looking at one of those trick pictures that can be either a black vase or two white faces.
The human actors in War Horse are unfortunately somewhat upstaged by the puppets, and their performances were sometimes a little strained and over-acted. But this was a minor gripe that didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of a deeply moving piece of theatre, which uses the suffering of animals as an effective window into the horrors of war.
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