War Horse

Not being a fan of modern plays, I was apprehensive about seeing War Horse. I doubted that I would enjoy the subject matter or the manner in which they speak, me being partial to Shakespearean language. My predictions came true, in what to me was a sweet, but overly dramatic and blunt production.

The first thing that struck me was the costuming, particularly how the puppets were displayed. The puppeteer handling Joey's head was not in black, but period attire, and was always in plain view of the audience. Although this was obviously a stylistic choice of the director, it caused me to not empathize with Joey's character as I was constantly reminded that he wasn't a horse but a mere puppet. For me to fully enter a theatrical production I need to suspend disbelief and enter into a space where the stage becomes real life. Having the puppeteers not even attempt to hide from view prevented my full participation in Joey's character and his plight. He wasn't a horse to me, he was some metal and wood put together with some people moving him. I do however, commend the puppeteers on their excellent job of moving him and giving him features (such a breathing movements) that did give some semblance of life. The actors did a good job as well, though to me the performances were lacking in subtlety. At times I found it brash as they (particularly Albert) ran around the stage, falling dramatically to their knees, and constantly taking their hats on and off as if this sign was needed to tell the audience that the character was nervous. For a play dealing with a subject like war, both bold and nuanced, I had hoped for a bit more depth to show through. To be fair however, a character is created through a symbiosis of actor and writer. I found the father character particularly troubling as a one-dimensional bumbling drunkard, offering his son a bike in return for selling his best friend. In my eyes the character had no depth or message except as a statement against the excess of drinking and bad parenting. I did enjoy, however, the numerous comic reliefs sprinkled throughout the show, such as the adorable goose. Another element which did strengthen the play somewhat to me was the male singer who appeared at special times throughout the production. It seemed to add a deeply primal, human element, but also give a sense of the culture which they all could lose in the war.

In terms of the lighting and stage I felt that it was very well done overall. I particularly liked the hand drawings in the background with the dates and location of certain key days. My only criticism of this aspect was during the war scenes, where the lights went haywire, explosions sounded all around, and the back drop showed splashes of orange and black. It was intended to make the audience feel a part of the action, I just felt like I was on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney Land.


I commend the production for attempting to foster a more egalitarian view of the war in showing good and evil characters from both sides, especially since this is a view of the war which we rarely get to see. Perhaps my only concern about this is that the different characters they introduced (English, French, German) were essentially the same but happened to speak different languages. The french girl and her mother were in no way "French" except for the fact that they spoke the language, and the only culture we get from the German is that he speaks the language. I would have liked them to introduce some sort of individual cultural heritage, as the absence of it vividly shows a type of cultural essentialism- the language makes the culture. A slightly more complex depiction of the intersection of these three cultures, other than silly word games when the English attempt to speak French, might have been appropriate.

Overall, I am glad that I got to see the show, even though the production didn't exactly speak to me. Despite my problems with it the play allowed me to explore the issue of war, of death and glory, or friendship and love, for a few hours on a Monday night.

-Kelsey Weber