Based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo which was later adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 2011, the show was adapted for the stage back in 2007, on which it has been more or less ever since (factoring in for Covid).
The eponymous War Horse is Joey, young farmer Albert’s beloved equine companion, who gets sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France in 1914 during mobilisation. Soon he and Albert who, despite being too young, followed him into war a few months, are caught up in enemy fire in No Man’s Land. Despite having followed Joey explicitly to find him, there seems little hope of reuniting, or even surviving the War that was meant to be over by Christmas.
Featuring life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company and projection on a tear-like screen by Nicol Scott and Ben Pearcy, War Horse is the ultimate example of how much can be done on-stage, effortlessly depicting farms peopled with animals, beach landings of soldiers and a No Man’s Land of cavalry charges, barbed wire and even a tank.
But if the scope of the War To End All Wars is present, so is its tragedy. Spectacle is worth little with heart, and War Horse has plenty, from the lovably expressed horses, (the two lead horses alone take a rotation of 13 puppeteers, to say nothing of the other animals and machines), to the underscoring music by Adrian Sutton and John Tams, sung by Sally Swanson, and the vivid lighting design by Rob Casey
And then, of course, there’s the cast, lead by Tom Sturgess as Albert, a vast group but one in which each has their moment and place on the vast canvas whose background is a World War. They bring the human to the history, from its love and courage to its frailty, cruelty and violence.
Part of the audience on the night I attended seemed to be school-groups and it’s easy to understand why. Straight-forward without being simple, educational without being cold and breathtaking without ever distracting from its heart, War Horse is one of those rare shows which is everything you have probably been told it is.
War Horse is running at the Festival Theatre until the 11th October. Tickets can be found at: https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/war-horse/
Reviewer: Oliver Giggins
Reviewed: 2nd October 2025
North West End UK Rating: