National Theatre Live: War Horse

Grew up loving Michael Morpurgo's work, and 'War Horse' has always being a particular favourite from his work. Had to have a reading book every week to read to an assistant on a regular basis, and Morpurgo's books and stories were popular picks, because they are beautifully written and accessible. It is a very powerful story, one that wrenches the gut and heart every time and with a titular character that is identifiable every step of the way.

It was productions like this that got me into watching the National Theatre Live cinema screenings regularly in the first place, being someone who was already going to frequent opera and ballet productions. Can't believe it took me so long to review 2014's 'War Horse', but it is a production that stuck with me for a long time, is a real treasure and it absolutely does the book justice. Actually loved Spielberg's 2011 film, not a popular opinion online it seems, but consider this production more powerful, more poignant and more interesting visually even with not as big a budget.

Visually, 'War Horse' looks fabulous. The lighting really struck me on first glance, the bright glow for the Devon sequences and the bleakness of those depicting the war is beautifully contrasted, while there is from personal opinion some of the best use of projection screen for anything on stage. There have been instances elsewhere where this distracts and serves little purpose, the projection screen not only looked beautiful and a good alternative to large scale sets but also a good way of solving problems with scene changes. Scene changes has sometimes in other productions overlong and clumsy but the projections move swiftly and allows the story to flow naturally. The effect both elements together have is remarkably cinematic.

This seamlessness is also evident in the use of music. Really liked the idea to not have pre-recorded and potentially schmaltzy music and have instead have nostalgic folk songs performed live. Then there are the sound effects, which were even more effective, those in the No Man's Land scenes being frighteningly authentic. 'War Horse' keeps sentimentality at bay, while the nostalgic charm of the Devon scenes again like the lighting contrasts superbly with the uncomprisingly gut-wrenching No Man's Land scenes.

While all the performances are strong, it was the puppetry for the horses that stole the show. So expertly done and blended so well with the projection screen and lighting that one cannot believe how they were really done.

Overall, magical. 10/10

I went to this with a group of people who thought it was wonderful and delightful, while I found it tedious an not compelling.

The story is: Boy finds horse Boy loses horse Horse causes world peace Boy finds horse again for a tearful homecoming

Within this fairly trite framework could have been an interesting story, but the script replaced drama with melodrama. The plot development wasn't just uncomplicated. It was simplistic. The good Germans were just like the salt of- the- earth British, but the bad Germans were frothing and unhinged certified animal haters.

There was a British folk singer with a nice voice singing late 60s style Pentangle/ Richard THompson British folkie songs that had nothing to do with the story being presented in the play. In the songs a ploughboy meets a girl, and John Barleycorn rises from the grave. Now, that might have been a more interesting movie.

The acting was not up to British stage standards, with the mother and the German cavalry officer being particularly wooden. Only the British Sargent playing the gruff- but- kindly stereotypical sarge with a nice comedic touch rose above tawdry tedium.

The real stars were supposed to be the animal, played by clever puppets, but, in essence, it was like low tech CGI in that all effort seemed to be spent on the puppets, while the script and acting suffered.

However, I was in the minority. Everybody else thought it was fantastic.