War Horse

Okay, I’ll say it…War Horse, the play, was slightly disappointing. Yes, the horse puppets were cool and interesting but I kept thinking, “They’ve gone to so much work, can’t they get the legs to move in the proper sequence?”

I had heard it was fantastic, very realistic. So I was pumped and excited to go with my mom and daughter. Granted, I waited too long to get tickets so we were fairly high up in the theater. Maybe it would have been better if we had been down lower. Maybe I would have felt more drawn into the story if we had been closer to the stage.

Granted, I am not a war story person. I hate to admit it but I had to stretch my brain to remember who fought who in  World War I. Plus it was so dark on stage, I had a hard time picking out which side was which. Better accents might have helped me know who was who. I guess I’m weird but for a while there, I was hoping for subtitles.

And I know, I know, I was supposed to suspend my disbelief. But I loved The Lion King and was hoping to be as fascinated by the horse puppets as I had been by the hyenas and antelopes and other puppets of that play which I saw in the same venue. As I watched the animal puppets in The Lion King all I could think was how well they had incorporated the people into the animals, so much so that it was easy to stop noticing the people playing the animals.

Unfortunately, the closer I studied the horses, the more I noticed too much. The hind legs  hung loosely and moved aimlessly most of time, but especially at the gallop. What were supposed to be nickers and whinnys sounded like a person trying to sound like a horse. I tried not to be distracted but I just couldn’t do it. This play fell into the category of most horse movies where I find myself preoccupied by what is wrong instead of enjoying the story.

I will praise the actors for the way they moved the head and ears of the horses. They got that right. And I have to tip my hat to the way they brought the horses to life by the breathing. Those actors (one of the three for each horse) had to have quads of steel! My favorite puppet was the goose on wheels. I did enjoy the comic relief it brought.

But overall, I can only give the play a five out of 10. I’m glad I went but I won’t make an effort to see it again. I’m evidently in the minority because I’ve seen the posts on Facebook from my friends who are horse people about just how much they loved the play. It’s just my opinion but this is one play that would be enjoyed more by non-horse people.