This is my creative title for my War Horse review.

Last week I had the opportunity of seeing the emotional journey of a beloved and sheltered animal sent into a world of destructive chaos entitled "War Horse." I thought the play was well put together: the use of puppets to represent a live animal was an interesting choice. In some scenes I forgot that the character of Albert was conversing with simply a puppet and not his horse Joey.

I felt that all of the characters were well cast. I especially enjoyed the wandering Irishman who sang during most of the play and acted as a reminder of the homeland. I thought this presence added a certain artistic element that was not over-embellished.

Another aspect of the show that I thought was well done was the use of different languages in their appropriate scenes. Even though I do not speak French or German, I could understand still what was happening between the characters. I thought that this made the journey for the audience more realistic.

Although I felt the production was wonderful, I was not so certain I actually liked the play itself. As the show progressed from the pre-War years of life in Ireland to the hectic and tragic fighting sequences in France, I felt that the mood of the show shifted quite drastically to a sense of hopelessness. It was so sad during the middle of the second act, I honestly felt like leaving the production: it was in my opinion too much to handle. Although the show redeemed itself in the short run by reuniting both Joey and Albert, I sort of felt that this was a "cop-out" of an ending. I agree with the idea that if at the show was to continue at the pace it was already headed, it would have been a devastating experience for the audience and the play definitely would have been a flop; however, I thought the reuniting of the two lead characters seemed a little too perfect. Understanding the chances for such an ending in that war environment would have been slim to none, so watching such an unrealistic ending was unfavorable to me. I feel that perhaps if the second act had been redone to make it seem slightly less hopeless for the audience, and perhaps transformed the finale into a sad but meaningful ending, the audience could have left the theatre with emotion as well as a sense of understandings of the war, rather than fully concentrating on the reuniting of Joey and Albert.

All in all, I enjoyed the production of War Horse, and even though I would have liked a different ending for the play, I felt that the actors were wonderful.

Colleen Bromberger
UC Irvine