Collin Medford

My family and I were fortunate enough to see War Horse this week at the Cadillac Theatre in Chicago.  The set was simple, consisting of a bare stage and a thin long white scrim draping above.  The props were visually stunning and effective at creating the scene. Most of the projections were in black and white, which was fitting for the given time period. They also provided key dates, which again, helped with the setting. There are upwards of 40 cast members and I was sitting almost 20 rows away, which makes it hard to accurately critique the acting.  I did enjoy Andrew Veenstra, who plays the main character Albert.  Overall, I thought the play was excellent, but I honestly love the more intimate black box theatre experience simply because the production relies heavily on the acting. Anyway, I originally wrote this to discuss the brief evolution of horses in theatre and how it has changed since the 19^th century.

In the 19^th century it was common for real living horses to appear on stage. This type of drama was known as hippodrama, which evolved from earlier equestrian circus. The first hippodramatic play premiered in 1803 in London at Astleys Amphitheatre. The staging for these types of plays combined a proscenium stage with a dirt riding area below. Hippodrams fell out of favor with the public in the mid century. In the 1880s the United States saw a short revival of hippodramas due to the invention of the treadmill. Real living horses would run along this machine just as a human would. Horses were considered actors back then just like they are today in film.

In today’s modern theatre we never see horses unless you’re at the circus. As I mentioned earlier, a very famous play in today’s theatre that involves horses is War Horse. The story is about a young boy, Albert, and his horse, Joey during the World War I.  Joey is sold for cavalry and shipped off to France. Albert, who is still too young to enlist in the army, leaves home with the hope that he will find Joey.  The cinematic version of this story uses real living horses whom are actors, but in the theatre adaption they use puppet horses.  The puppeteers are masterful at their craft and are able to work the puppets presenting even the slightest of movements. The Handspring Puppet Company designs the puppets.

“Each horse is operated by three actor/puppeteers; two that spend the majority of the show under the frame of the horse controlling the legs, hooves and tail. When an actor has mounted the horse, the puppeteers have to hold upwards of 200 lbs on their backs. A third puppeteer leads the horse and controls the movements of the head – even down to the slightest ear flick.” (TheCraftsDept)

I would never have believed that a puppet horse could offer more detail and have a deeper and truer connection with the audience as opposed to real horse. It would also be dangerous and impractical to have living beast on stage and the puppets are designed accurately enough that you almost forget that they aren’t real.

The next play I will be seeing is The Letters, written by John W. Lowell, which will be preformed at the Writers Theatre.  Until then, have a Happy New Year!