Spellbinding ‘War Horse’ at Ahmanson

By Carol Davis

LOS ANGELES—If there is one show you must see this year, make it War Horse, the 2011 Tony Award winner for Best Play and then some. It is now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on its national tour for a limited engagement through July 29^th. Don’t see it because you did/didn’t see the movie version or because you love a good love story, or because you love horses (although it does play into that) or because you’re an historian of all the world wars.

 

See it because War Horse, based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Nick Stafford in association with Handsrting Puppet Company and directed by Bijan Sheibani based on the original staging by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, is a stand alone, unique theatre experience, one that you will never forget.

 

‘Joey’ is a young foal, named by his owner Albert Narracott (Andrew Veenstra sensitively acted) after he was purchased by his Dad Ted (Todd Cerveris) at an auction in their hometown of Devon. Bound not to be outdone in the bidding by his troublemaker brother, Arthur (Brian Keane) Ted, who drinks too much (an understatement), uses the money to buy the horse instead of making the mortgage payment to the bank. This becomes a bone of contention when he arrives home with the horse. His skewed priorities are driven by his alcohol consumption throughout the play.

 

All that said, Joey and Albert become best friends.  Over the years, he grows into a large beautiful and spirited bay red stallion that becomes Albert’s pride and joy. They develop a special relationship; they understand each other, they come to love each other and to trust each other. A true boy loves horse story.

 

First trained to be hunting horse, at some point Albert has to teach Joey to become a plow horse in order to keep Joey from being lost to his uncle, after his father, again in a drunken stupor, bets his uncle that Joey can be trained to go from a hunting horse to a plow horse in a week’s time. This is a father that keeps on giving and every time he does, he manages to hurt his son more than he will ever understand.

 

Even though these family problems rise up every now and then as a side bar to the main plot, the story manages to keep focused on the tragedies and horrors of war. Horses are no matches for cannon fire, poison gas and starvation, nonetheless, they were led into the thick of the battle. It is reported that more than a million horses were lost in that war. In fact it is said that the loss of the horses was of ‘greater tactical concern than the loss of a human soldier’.

 

With that in the background, Ted sells Joey to a cavalry regiment for a hundred pounds, as Albert looks on in disbelief.  The regiment is on its way to France to help with the war effort on the Western Front. There, Joey becomes a trained warhorse whose tasks are as far from farming and riding as they are from Albert who vows to follow him to the ends of the earth. Joey also meets up with Topthorn, a huge black stallion that gets nippy with Joey as they vie for dominance. Ultimately the two form a bond and the sight of the two galloping side by side to battle is almost more than the brain can handle.

 

In his service to the war effort, Joey does everything from charge the enemy to drag heavy artillery and wounded soldiers. He is broken, mistreated, passed from one officer to another, struggles to free himself in one of the cruelest acts of war to the horses, from barbed wire and lays near death only to have a miraculous recovery. All this unfolds in front of our eyes as cannon bursts, gunfire erupts, victories are lost and found and the years pass.

 

If this all sounds like a story you might read to a youngster about perseverance, bravery, loyalty and heroes, you would be right. If it sounds like a horse story, you would still be right. If it sounds too good to be true, again right.

 

But the news about War Horse isn’t simply a war story, although it does chronicle the misery of war in a panoramic way using broad strokes framed on a large white canvas across the back of the stage with projections, back lighting, music and storytelling. (Rae Smith is credited for the sets, and costumes and drawings, and Paule Constable for the amazing lighting. Music is credited to Adrian Sutton and Jon Tams is the Songmaker and John Milosich sings the vocals in the show, as the song man). This story is about a horse, and not just any horse.

 

Joey, the hero of our play, is a life sized horse /puppet who trots on to the stage, first as a young foal and then, Lord knows how many hands high and right in front of our eyes as if in a dream, to a full sized stallion.

 

Not to get too technical but our beloved life sized Joey, made by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, is constructed from cane, plywood, leather, metal, and nylon mesh and aircraft cables. He is manipulated by three actor/puppeteers, inside the frame of the animal, who know every horse behavior from the flick of an ear, to rearing in fright, to a nose snort and whinnies, to the swish of a tail, to galloping, to a knowing and understanding eye even going so far as nuzzling when in need of some attention.  If I didn’t know better, I would swear that he was smarter than some folks I’ve met. Truth be known he does have a better personality.

 

The show boasts a large cast of about thirty actors along with the frames of other horses engaged in the war, a few bird puppets on very tall poles that we see flying in the background and a silly goose pushed around on wheels that manages to get goosed every time she tries to enter Albert’s farmhouse and the door closes unceremoniously on her bill. It’s one of the lighter moments in the show.

 

I did not see Stephen Spielberg movie version so I went into the theater with a blank slate and came out with images that will be forever etched in my brain. This is theater that will send shivers up your spine and remembered, as being the ultimate best that theatre has to offer. It’s not to be missed.

 

See you at the theatre.

 

 

Dates: through July 29th

Organization: Center Theatre Group

Phone: 213-628-277

Production Type: Drama

Where: 135 North Grand Ave downtown Los Angeles at the music Center

Ticket Prices: start at $20.00 (subject to change)

Web: centertheatregroup.org

Venue: Ahmanson Theatre

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Davis is a San Diego-based theatre critic. She may be contacted at carol.davis@sdjewishworld.com