'War Horse' at the National Theatre

'War Horse' is back at the National Theatre so I had to go back to see brave Joey. I first met Joey in, I think, 2008 on the Olivier stage at the National and, on this visit, they played on the Lyttelton stage. That instantly makes it a bit different and there have been some small changes over the years as it adapted to being a touring production but it's still 'War Horse' and it still has the power to make you gasp and shed a tear for our hero. It's particularly poignant in the anniversary year of the end of that cruel war.

We first meet Joey as a pony learning to run and gambol and being sold at auction to a drunken farmer.The farmer's son Albert trains Joey and is distraught when he's sold to the army to be an officers horse. We also meet Joey's rival and friend Topthorn, another officer's horse. We follow Joey to France and the trenches of the First World War and so does an underage Albert, seeking his friend. We follow their adventures as the war progresses until Albert is temporarily blinded by mustard gas and is convalescing when an injured horse is brought into the same camp who has been rescued from the barbed wire protecting the trenches.

It's a testament to the piece that I wasn't really bothered about the human participants in the play, it's all about Joey. He's a horse, not a puppet, which is a tribute to his handlers with all the little movements that bring him to life and give him his character. The same with Topthorn really who Joey helps adapt to life behind the German lines but who, ultimately, can't handle the change from proud charger to work-horse.

There is, of course, another hero in the play, and that is Mr Goose who lives on the same farm as Joey and Albert. One day he *will* make it inside that farmhouse. It's inevitable, really. It's a great credit to the Handspring puppeteers that they can imbue their creations with so much character and make the audience love them. Just as Joey really is a horse, Mr Goose really is a goose with his own agenda and ambitions to fulfil and, one day ... O yes, one day...

Does anyone go to see 'War Horse' to see the actors and the human story or do we go to see the story of a horse? I think it's the latter and I didn't really bother about the humans. I didn't really think that any of the actors were that great or managed to take the shine off the horses and goose. Thomas Dennis played Albert and Jo Castletown play his careworn mother but, really, so what? They were simple reflections of Joey's glory. We also had Peter Becker as the German officer who tries to save Joey and Topthorn. They're not terribly strong roles and just add some light and shade to the story of Joey, the War Horse.

It was lovely to see Joey, Topthorn and Mr Goose again, particularly in this anniversary year, and, I suspect, 'War Horse' gets more tears than many of the other commemorations of the war to end all wars.