Broadway has long featured the creative use of puppets. Think Avenue Q, Disney’s The Lion King and even the revival of Little Shop of Horrors. But they all pale in comparison to the five-time Tony Award-winning War Horse and its expressive, full-sized equine puppets, which come to life in a stunning theatrical adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s popular children’s book.
The touring production, now at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center through Sunday, May 19, has its roots in a stage project at the National Theatre of Great Britain, directed with ingenuity and heart by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris. That venerable institution was interested in collaborating with South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, and once the World War I-era source material was determined, the play was shaped by the look and movement of the exquisite representation of horses and other creatures.
Built of an artful wood and metal skeleton and a transparent mesh skin, each horse is manipulated by three puppeteers — two hidden in plain sight inside the steed and the third outside, leading the horse as if on a leash. You will have to take my word for how they are operated, for within minutes the eye allows the puppeteers to become virtually invisible and the horses take on lives of their own. It is the very essence of the magic that theater can possess, but all too rarely does.
The story concerns a farm boy named Albert Narracott, whose alcoholic father impetuously buys a chestnut half-thoroughbred, with whom the boy quickly bonds. With money scarce, the father sells the horse — named Joey by the boy — to the British army to assist the war effort. Albert then enlists as soon as he can to re-unite with Joey on the front lines of France.
The plot verges on cliché, but the stagecraft to convey it is nothing short of miraculous. There is, of course, the Steven Spielberg movie version of War Horse, but film being such a literal medium, it cannot hope to have the emotional impact of the stage play. Real horses? Big deal.
In addition to the horses, Handspring devised a goose puppet, sort of a push-toy-on-a-wheel, which serves as the production’s only comic relief. Every time the goose makes an entrance, it is a sure-fire laugh.
Scenically, War Horse is a wonder as well. Rae Smith’s design is dominated by a slash of skylight torn from the backdrop, through which cinematic drawings scroll by — both horizontally and vertically. These animated sketches create the Narracott farm in Devon, the precarious Channel crossing to France and the explosive chaos of war, aided by Paule Constable’s stark lighting and Christopher Shutt’s booming sound design.
In the face of all this technology, there is still room for a human saga to shine through. War Horse has a cast of more than two dozen actors and puppeteers, switching back and forth between the two assignments with impressive fluidity, in a Story Theater-fashion. In a hard-working ensemble, only Alex Morf as Albert leaves a lasting impression, and even he takes an inevitable back seat to Joey.
As a time when it is rare for any non-musical to tour the United States, having the opportunity to experience War Horse in theaters across the country is an exception worth treasuring. The cast is almost as large as the one that played at Lincoln Center last season, and if the proscenium stage at performing arts centers such as the Broward does not allow such an epic sweep as New York’s Vivian Beaumont Theater could, on the road War Horse is still awe-inspiring, memorable theater.
WAR HORSE, Broward Center, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Through Sunday, May 19. Tickets: $39.50-$79.50. Call: (954) 462-0222.