Page 18 - Demo

18 Phonebox Magazine | April 2025The National Theatre%u2019s global smash-hit production of War Horse, the unforgettable theatrical event based on Michael Morpurgo%u2019s beloved novel, has set off on a major 18-month UK tour and comes to Milton Keynes Theatre later this month.The harrowing WW1 production has become the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre, winning more than 25 major awards, and it%u2019s been seen by more than 8.3 million people worldwide. War Horse tells the remarkable story of a young boy called Albert and his horse, Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War. The powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness, fi lled with stirring music and songs.At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert%u2019s beloved horse, is sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France. He%u2019s soon caught up in enemy fi re, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before fi nding himself alone in no man%u2019s land. Albert, who remained on his parents%u2019 Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. Though still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to fi nd him and bring him home.One of its big draws is the ground-breaking puppetry work by South Africa%u2019s Handspring Puppet Company, which brings breathing, galloping, and charging horses to thrilling life on stage. It has inspired a generation of theatre-makers since its premiere in 2007.%u201cIt is a huge privilege to be invited to revisit War Horse and to share this powerful story once more with audiences around the country,%u201d said director Tom Morris. %u201cMichael Morpurgo%u2019s brilliant idea to explore the crushing violence of war through the experience of a horse makes his story as powerful and resonant today as it has ever been. %u201cAnd in this time of increasing commercialism in theatre, it%u2019s worth remembering that the production which carried War Horse to an international audience was a wild experiment, developed through workshops at the National Theatre Studio. It has been an enormous thrill to return there in recent months to reunite Adrian Kohler%u2019s magnifi cent puppets with designer Rae Smith, composer Adrian Sutton and other members of the original cast and creative team to start the process of bringing Joey back to the stage.%u201d%u201cI am so delighted the National Theatre%u2019s iconic production of War Horse is back,%u201d said Michael Morpurgo. %u201cWhen Covid closed the show down in 2020 in Australia in the midst of its second world tour, many thought, and I was amongst them, that we%u2019d never see War Horse on stage again. %u201cNow it%u2019s really happening %u2013 we will hear the music and songs, be amazed by its design and lighting, and live Joey%u2019s story again. War Horse is about the tragedy of war and about a horse and his boy, but it's also so many other things %u2013 it's about family and community, courage and loss, hope, and most importantly, reconciliation.%u201dWar Horse is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Tuesday 22nd April to Saturday 3rd May.War Horse gallops into MK