Theatre: War Horse

Yesterday was a very good day, not only did school get cancelled for today before even a single drop of snow had fallen - we have about 2 inches now so the whole country has ground to a halt - I got a phone call whilst I was in the pub (Christmas coke after work) asking if I wanted to go and see War Horse in London. Of course I said yes and was on the coach and on my way within 5 minutes.
The play War Horse is based on the fantastic childrens novel by Micheal Morpurgo. Set in the UK just before the Great War Albert is given a horse to raise and train in order to save his father's farm. He and the horse (Joey) become great friends and of course being a kids book the horse becomes the most desired horse in the country. When the war starts horses are sold to the army, including Joey. In grief Albert also joins the war. The story then continues throughout the war showing both of the characters plight during the war.

I rarel say this, but the play was even better than the book. The horses were puppets manouvered through three actors. The movement of the horse was perfect whether it was racing, moving its ears or listening to Albert talk. After a little while you forgot that the horse was a pupppt and didn't 'see' those actors creating its movement. The actors were also perfect. And, being a girl I cried. We took 20 kids from school from 11 to 16 years old, they were perfectly behaved and fascinated by the play, and to make it even better we came out of the theatre to walk through London's theatre land in the snow.

Heres the trailer to tempt you, its been named in The Times the play of the decade and its certainly the best thing I have ever seen:
The Trailer



I'm off to build a snowman and brave the walk to the shops to grab some fish and chips, then will be curled up with a book all afternoon. Bliss