War Horse

Before I even arrived at the New London Theatre I had almost unattainable expectations for War Horse.  All of the Londoners I know had already seen and recommended the play.  I knew that it would be a good production, but I remained a bit skeptical about a plot centered upon a boy’s relationship with his horse as that basic storyline has been done time and time again in the world of entertainment. 

Once I entered the theatre, I climbed what seemed to be an endless number of stairs.  I finally reached the top, where I was expecting to be extremely high-up and unable to see any of the actors onstage. Fortunately, that was not the case.  The theatre was far smaller than the ones I am used to attending back home in Los Angeles.  The intimate environment really allowed me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. 

Once the lights dimmed and the performance began, all of my skepticism disappeared.  I was immediately enthralled by the story-line, which had me on the edge of my seat the entire way through.  The puppeteers who effortlessly manned Joey (the horse) through his different ages were incredible.  Although they donned early 1900s newsboy-type attire, they became one with their puppet and shared expressions and emotions with the wooden-horse skeleton.  Although the puppeteers were quite intriguing (as well as the duck who provided comedic relief and the crows who flew over the audience), the aspect of the play that really kept me enthralled was that of the relationship between Albert and his horse, Joey.  Their friendship survived the aspects of life that we all come to expect – war, death, love and loss.  Although Joey obviously did not have any lines, the audience couldn’t help but worry for his safety and form a bond with this horse.  We soon came to love Joey as much as Albert did. 

Furthermore, throughout the entirety of the piece, I always wanted to continue to root for Albert – the epitome of “the underdog (or under-horse, rather).”  This poor farm-boy grew up with an alcoholic father and no friends except for Joey and his mother.  It was fascinating to witness the transformation of the rather naïve young Albert into a dedicated, reliable and amazing man who would stop at nothing in order to reunite with his best friend (who was the catalyst for this change in Albert).  

I highly recommend this adventurous story of love, friendship and war to everyone who has the opportunity to witness this masterpiece.

Alexandra (Alix) Terris Feldman

UCLA