War Horse was a letdown exactly because I went in expecting
a musical (dubious sources?). For the entire sitting I was gnawed by how little
singing there was. The real tragedy of the night was the horribly misplaced
violinist-singer who seemed to transcend time and space to offer a couple of
words of wisdom (which the play should supply without her having to say it). I
wonder if the point of this was to create a play-musical hybrid, the producers
knowing full well that musicals do much better than plays at the box office.
Foregoing that blip, this play was a visual spectacle. The climax of the night came early,
when the young foal, awkwardly dominated by its three puppeteers, turns into War Horse. The size and majesty of the transformation
puts this play squarely ahead of the movie (rated 77% on rotten tomatoes).
Perhaps the best way to view War Horse is from a historical
perspective. World War I marks the start of the 20th century as the
old, imperial empires of history are dissolved amidst an unforeseen compendium
of suffering. From the Guns of August, “In 1910, nine kings rode in the funeral
of Edward VII of England, representing 70 nations in the greatest assemblage of
royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last.” The battles
of Verdun and the Somme, each with over a million casualties changed all that. The
first battles of the war in Belgium did indeed involve a cavalry charge. They
were replaced with trenches, mustard gas, machine guns and tanks. In the play,
this was aptly shown with Joey (the horse) in direct confrontation with one of
the Empire’s new tanks. Indeed, the era of horses ended. Their obsolescence began
much earlier but the post WWI world had no place for them.
What a wonderful crucible then for a story about the bond
between a boy and his horse. Unfortunately, some of it was unconvincing (“we’ll
always be together!”). The foray into German territory was a good idea but the play
loses the perspective of the horse as in the book. Joey is taken care of by a German
officer (“Fredrick”) who pines to be with his wife and daughter (“Sophie”).
Where Fredrick’s love for Sophie comes into the picture and how the war horse
has anything to do with this is unclear to me.
The story admirably avoids the war-guilt premise ascribed to
Germany and instead blames high-power politics. This becomes apparent in the barb-wire
scene where white flags from both sides of no man’s land are waved and
respective wire cutters flip a coin to decide ownership of Joey.
Where the play lacks in believability it makes up in the
reality of the puppet horses. It is indeed the visuals that keep the play
going. Add in the WWI backdrop, it may be worth a watch.
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