War Horse at Lincoln Center

After seeing the play War Horse at Lincoln Center last week, I remember why I enjoy the theater so much and regret not having gone more often in recent years. War Horse was by far one of the most impressive and entertaining plays I have ever seen. The play itself is a work of art, transporting you to a different time and place with a minimal amount of work done to the set. The story itself is a powerful one, that of a young boy and his horse in England on the brink of war in 1914. The play follows both the boy and his horse through the First World War, and the play shows how the first mechanized war, one that would introduce the machine gun, the tank and gas warfare into war would change the lives of all the participants we meet as the story progresses.

The acting in the play was fantastic, but the true star of the production is “Joey” the horse, or should we say the four actors who control Joey, since he is actually a puppet. Now when the word puppet is mentioned, most people have specific ideas of what this might look like, but take it from me, the way that these actors controlled the “horse” made you really believe that there was an actual horse onstage, even though you could clearly see the actors. The actors did all the minor things, like shake his tail, or kick his leg that made you forget that this was just a puppet on stage.

I would recommend it for everyone to see this play. Not only is it a great story that will have you on the edge of your seats, but the technological success of creating “Joey” and the other horses should be reason enough to see the play. To get your tickets, visit War Horse on Broadway.

Disclosure: I received complimentary admission to the show. Opinions are my own.