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here’s a moment in every performance of War Horse when, says puppetry director Gareth Aled, the audience fully believes that the lifesized horse puppets on stage are real. “Early on, out of the darkness you see a light that rises, and you see Joey as a foal, taking his first few steps,” says Gareth. “The audience is immediately captivated from that moment on.” Gareth knows what he’s talking about. He performed on stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain, controlling Joey the foal and Topthorn the adult horse for two years until 2015 before returning as puppet director. Over eight million people have seen the play, in 97 cities and 11 countries, and it has won more than 25 international awards including the Tony for Best Play on Broadway. Based on the beloved book by Michael Morpurgo, it’s a remarkable story of courage, loyalty and friendship, and tells the story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War. This powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a
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show of phenomenal inventiveness, filled with stirring music and songs, featuring ground-breaking puppetry work by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, which brings breathing, galloping horses to life on stage. At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. Albert, who remained on his parents’ Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. Though still not old enough to enlist he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home. Three actors bring each horse to life on stage, an astonishing feat of magic in plain view. “The job of the actors is that they have to focus all their attention on their part of the puppet,” says Gareth. “The audience is drawn to the puppets at all times so it takes a very particular type of person to operate them effectively.” As the head of Joey, Gareth admits
