There doesn’t seem to be much love for the Spielberg movie of this play (which uses real horses) but in the case of this theatre production I have to say that Handspring and their horse puppets deserve all the plaudits that have been given to them.
In rural Devon, 1912, young Albert acquires Joey the foal thanks to his drunken dad’s attempt to outshine his brother. During the process of caring for the horse a bond develops between boy and animal that even their parting by the Great War can’t break.
The use of minimal sets and staging (a torn piece of paper for projections, lights, music and of course the puppets – including a comic goose for light relief) all contribute to the sense that we are seeing the world through the eyes of a real animal in real locations.
The battle scenes are superb in their depth, Albert grows from a naive farm boy to a lance corporal who has seen the horrors of war, and if the good German is a little shaky in accent, then it just adds to the balance given here between friend and foe, as experienced by the horse.
This play feels cinematic even though it is sparsely staged, and some moments are emotionally draining, especially the scene in No Man’s Land. Most of this is due to the skill of the puppeteers who make the objects real.