Am I the last one to know about this play in London?

Well, if any of you also have never heard of it or seen it, I want to clue you in…  Very, very emotional and impressive.

To me, I watched the trailers and clips and I think they got the movements and emotions of the horse DEAD ON.   These puppets look, act and feel like real horses.

I mean, if you told me there was a play running in London about the 1st World War and the horses who go into battle and their relationship with their soldiers — but the horses were puppets — I’d probably think, B-O-R-I-N-G.  I’d be thinking of some actors wearing stoopid horse outfits where one is the head and one is the tail.  Ugh.  Heavy and ridiculous unless it is the grammar school Holiday play or something.

But, I’d be wrong!  This play is very successful and I see why.  They got it right.  These aren’t ordinary puppets and these aren’t ordinary puppeteers.  You really need to watch these clips to appreciate how this play is clever and well concepted and executed.  Truly amazing.

THE PLAY

The play is an adaptation from the book, which I have not read but I’ve been told that I need to read it.  So, it must be a great read…  You need to click on this image to watch the trailer for the play.  You’ll get an idea of how the puppets work.

THE PUPPETEERS

OK, these guys at Handspring Puppets are at the top of their game, for sure.  Here is a clip of them describing how they created the puppets and how they move.

THE MAKING OF…

Here is a clip from the Director on how he decided to bring a play about a mute protagonist to the stage in London…

VIDEO DIARY

Here is a video diary from one of the actors… (as a side note, it is funny that we as Americans have no idea about this actor…)

TALK SHOW VERSION…

Here we see a clip of the actors who mainpulate the puppet on a talk show in England.  They show you how they do it but they also stay in character.  Very cool!

I sure hope you enjoyed viewing these and seeing how this is done.  I thought they did a great job of capturing the spirit of the horse.  I wish I could see this in person…

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The November Bucket Fund will benefit The Wild Horses and Burros, via DreamCatcher Sanctuary.  We are helping them acquire an additional 20,000 acres to release more captured Mustangs/Burros back into the wild.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate to this incredible opportunity for our Mustangs,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)