Preview

War Horse Evaluation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1376 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
War Horse Evaluation
War Horse Evaluation
On the 11th of March 2013 I went to see War Horse at the New London Theatre. War Horse is a novel adapted by Nick Stafford and written by Michael Morpurgo. The performance I saw was directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, it also involved the incredible Handspring Puppet Company who created all the animals. War Horse is set in Devon in 1914 and is about how a farmer, Ted Narracott who is played by Jamie Kenna buys a thoroughbred horse rather than a plough animal, but when his teenage son Albert played by Siôn Daniel Young trains the horse and calls him Joey, the two becoming inseparable. When his harvest fails, Ted has to sell Joey to the British cavalry and he is shipped to France where, after a disastrous offensive he is captured by the Germans and changes hands twice more before he is found, caught in the barbed wire and after 4 years he is freed. He is returned behind British lines where Albert, now a private, has been temporarily blinded by gas, but still recognizes his beloved Joey and the pair are finally reunited. As I was watching the play the main themes I noticed were love, tension, bravery and the human – animal bond.
The Handspring Puppet Company; Head-Nicholas Hart, heart- Andrew London and hind- Sam Wilmott

When I first entered the auditorium I saw that the stage was big and flown in above the stage was projection screen that looked like a tear from a book and every time there was a new scene, this tear would be used as a projection screen to explain to the audience the setting. This was very effective as it allowed the audience to understand which country each scene was set in and also enabled smooth transitions to take place.

Whilst watching the play I noticed how minimal the set was. There was only a few props on stage such as buckets on stage right and in Act Two the plough was used as the trench. A minimalistic set was effective because they travelled a lot and the play is set in so many locations, it’s good

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    R/G Questions Gg

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages

    3. The bare stage becomes a realistic, detailed set. They are in a real castle and on a real boat. What effect does this realism have on a play?…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These are visually presented depersonalised and simple, allowing theatrical flexibility. The interplay of dialogue, music, sound effects and projected images work together to create wartime setting and an extra emotional dimension to the play. The audience’s proximity to the stage enhances the intimacy created by the bareness of the stage and the re-connection of the two main characters: Bridie an Australian Army Nurse & Sheila a British Civilian.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play Proof by David Auburn is set on a back porch of a Chicago suburb in early September. After looking at past set designs I believe that keeping it simple is key, ideally I would set the play in the back porch of a Chicago suburb however a controlled environment is important. So I examined past sets and I have came to the conclusion that the best set would be on a simple stage; with soft lighting and a simple back ground and door with a large square window showing a crowded hallway (coat rack, shoe rack umbrella stand etc.. All crowded and overflowing) i would also have a set of stairs *no more that two or three, there would be square white columns at each corner. The paint covering the poles and door would be peeling slightly. There…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horse Playing in the Army

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Horse play is defined as Rowdy or boisterous play; gay or light hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement, typical on many construction sites between fellow workers, usually within a familiar team or crew and can often result in unintentional physical harm. Some other common names used for horse play are goofing off, playing around, and rough housing. There is a very thin line between harmless play and dangerous horse play. In most situations, even the most seemingly harmless joke or action can result in serious injury or worse. To safety conscious companies, horse play can be defined as any distracting or frivolous activity deviating from the task at hand. Horse playing no matter what you might call it, is wrong. Yes it is fun but it is also dangerous, it can lead to problems such as rivalry, hate crimes and even death. What might have started as “horse play” for two people could end up as something more than what you might want.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Horse Movie Analysis

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The film War Horse holds several themes, but the one that shines through the most is how war touches the lives of people beyond the front lines. By following Joey as he switches handlers throughout the film, you are able to see how people are affected on different sides of the war, and those who aren't even involved directly. For example, two German brothers who joined the army abandon their posts to return home, and run away on Joey and another horse. As they rest for the night, they…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    War Horse

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages

    War Horse film is a drama movie inspired from the the children’s novel War Horse written by the British author Michael Morpurgo in 1982. The movie displays the journey of an English horse in Europe before and during the First World War in order to illustrate the strong relationship between the horse and its owner. The film was professionally directed by Steven Speilberg who was successful to attract the attention of the young audiences during the 146 minutes of the film. War Horse was released in Dec 2011 by Walt Disney Pictures.It has achieved high revenues estimated by 167.80 million US dollars according to Wikipedia.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stephen Spielberg’s War Horse is a based off of its Tony award-winning Broadway play. The movie starts off in Devon where we are first introduced to a young man named Albert, his father Ted, mother Rose and Lyons the landlord. The father goes to a horse auction in high hopes of finding a horse to help plow the land for crops in order to pay rent and make a living. Once Ted is at the auction he looks upon this horse that is much smaller in size than all the other horse but seemed to have more energy than the rest. At the auction Lyon and Ted bid on the horse going back and forth over price until Ted uses part of his rent money to out bid Lyon. Once ted returns back to the farm his wife realized that this is not the kind of plow horse needed in order to plow this land and also the amount of money he spent in order to get him. Albert decides he is going to train the horse and plow the stone filled field; he then names the horse Joey. Albert begins spending time with Joey trying to train…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Critique Avenue Q

    • 280 Words
    • 1 Page

    I went and saw Avenue Q the day it started. I went into the show not knowing anything about Avenue Q. I had no idea it was a musical and I really wasn’t expecting it to be puppets. To be honest when I first saw that it was puppets I almost walked out, but the show completely surprised me. My favorite aspects of the show were the acting and the set.…

    • 280 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jamaica Play Analysis

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The setup of the stage was very minimalistic, with only four of five crates being used for various things the majority of the show. Also set up was a projection image that changes according to what the location of the scene was or what song was being sang. Although I admire the use of minimalistic sets, for the purpose being that it really directs your focus to the actual performance, I would have liked it if they set the scene more with other props. They did try to set a scene by using the projection, but it came off as kind of lazy to me. However, in the fantasy sequence where Joe makes Savannah imagine her life as one of the New York elites, I admire the way they used both the projection and various props (like a door, tables, etc.) to really make you feel as if you were in a luxury restaurant. Other props that were used were various forms of puppets. The comedic elements conveyed by the monkeys in the “Monkey in the Mango Tree” song really helped to bring down some tension caused by the N-word scene of the play, which really helped to fully encompass one of the central themes: racism. Another element I would like to mention is the use of sound in Jamaica. The playbill mentioned to have a pianist, (other I), and (other I), but it was barely noticeable. The only sound that was heard was the various tracks played through a speaker, with some of them not being…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Britain's Military Use of Horses 1914-1918 Author(s): John Singleton Source: Past & Present, No. 139 (May, 1993), pp. 178-203 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/651094 Accessed: 28/07/2009 08:48…

    • 4541 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Horse

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plot : The story is narrated by the horse, Joey – which I wasn’t expecting. He tells the reader of his experience at the farm where he is raised by Albert, his experience in France during the war and of the friendships he makes along the way. He sees some awful things in France, a fair amount of death and hurt, but what shines through this book is love – he has people care for him and he develops lovely friendships with many people in the book. He has Albert, the boy who raised him and trained him on the farm; Topthorne, a fellow horse in war with him and Emilie, a little French girl who looks after both him and Topthorne whilst they are camped at her grandfather’s farm. Friendship is the key factor in this book, and it can clearly be seen throughout the book.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Horse Analysis

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After all, this production takes its cue from a children’s book which has classic characters like the young boy Albert who becomes best friends which his animal, and the good hearted German Captain Friedrich Muller (Andrew Tighe) who all too quickly recognises the horror of war and abandons his post to help a French family across the border. The real emotion, the realism that gets the audience reaching for their Kleenex is the horses; whose life like movements and sounds, including flicking ears and shrugs convey the horses’ emotions. The puppets really do come alive in a magical way, which makes scenes like the ones of horses and soldiers charging into no man’s land to the deafening sound of machine gun fire and grenade blasts all the more horrific. You can’t help but be moved by these life like puppets who somehow withstand the physical and emotional demands placed on them, while at the same time softening the battle worn characters they come into contact with. There were gasps coming from the audience as actors ran and jumped onto the horses, each supported by 3 puppeteers, whose stamina really is something to be admired after running circles on stage for 3…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theatre Review

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Even though the set stayed the same throughout the whole show, the blocking and direction of the characters made up for it. The set did not get boring once and the characters interacted very well with the set. The characters’ actions were almost never repetitive and they never showed their back to the audience.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Our Town Essay

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Another theme in the story is how artificial the theatre really is. In the story, the narrator is both a narrator speaking to the audience, and a character. Also, in the movie, the set isn't really a set. It is just different parts of the stage being lit up.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Horse

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages

    True to his word, Nicholls treats Joey well and sketches him for Albert. He is proud of his new horse. Though Joey still fondly remembers Albert, he grows to like his new life and master. He develops a friendship with another horse, Topthorn, who belongs to Nicholls' friend, Captain Stewart. The horses and men are shipped overseas for battle. Departing the ship in France, the soldiers witness the sorrow and injuries all around them. They soon face their own battle, and Captain Nicholls is killed.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays