Theatre Review: War Horse, Bristol Hippodrome
Photo by Brunkhoff Mogenburg
Summary:
Rating: ★★★★★
Running Dates: Tuesday 3rd June - Saturday 21st June 2025
Where to see it: Bristol Hippodrome
Duration: 2 hr 40 min (incl. interval)
Keywords: War, Puppetry, Hope, Love, Relationships
Review
The ultimate praise for War Horse is that within sheer minutes I stopped seeing the puppetry artists and completely believed that this was a living, breathing creature. Not one to be missed!
One million horses were taken to France from Britain during World War I. Only 62,000 were brought back. A number that is absolutely staggering and one, I was completely unaware of - until yesterday night’s epic performance of War Horse. Based on the much loved novel by Michael Morpurgo and brought to life for this production directed by Tom Morris with revival director Katie Henry - we are shown the destruction, suffering, grieving and courage that Michael Morpurgo set out for us to experience with a horse at the very centre of that story.
The horse in question that the story is set around, Joey, is brought to life by a team of extremely talent puppeteers knowingly labelled head, heart & hind - so labelled as they truly bring this creature to life with such beauty & grace. Joey as a foal: Head - Eloise Beaumont, Heart - Diany Samba - Bandza & Hind - Jordan Paris. Adult Joey - Head - Rianna Ash, Heart - Chris Milford & Hind - Thomas Goodridge. Special mention to the team behind Topthorn whose death is marked with such respect (Head - Tom Quinn, Heart - Lewis McBean, Hind - Michael Larcombe). The ultimate praise for War Horse is that within sheer minutes I stopped seeing the puppetry artists and completely believed that this was a living, breathing creature. Snorting and spirited personality complete providing that comic relief sorely needed. All I’ll say is the goose does this perfectly!
Photo by Brunkhoff Mogenburg
The staging is simple but effective, something I have come to expect from National Theatre productions. Ripped parchment lit up the stage with animated drawings projected onto it which assisted the production to move from season to season with ease and limited set whilst bringing that extra darkness and moodiness to the horror of war.
Overall, this is an emotional ride - an epic of major proportions that simply should not be missed. Who knew a horse could bring even the coldest heart a tear on a Tuesday night?
Standout Moment: All the scenes of war with haze and spotlighting used so effectively to bring those scenes to life
See If: You are looking for a visually stunning experience with heart and great storytelling
Last Impressions: Deeply moving, emotional and absolutely groundbreaking puppetry
Similar Plays: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Goodnight Mister Tom
You can find tickets for the show on the ATG Website
We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review.
Written by Steph Clarke