Will War Horse Be a Hit on Broadway??? Reviews Are In!

The National Theatre’s stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s book War Horse - which premiered at the NT in October 2007 transferred in April 2009 to the West End’s New London Theatre where it continues to pack houses - is now running on both sides of the Atlantic. It had its Broadway premiere last night (14 April 2011) at the Lincoln Center Theater, and today’s reviews suggest that it could be set for a long run in New York too.

As here, where the production won numerous design awards, US critics were particularly wowed by Handspring’s life-sized puppets of the horses, including Joey, whose shipment to France during the First World War prompts his teenaged owner Albert to enlist and follow after him.

“I doubt you’ll have ever seen anything like it,” Bloomberg marvels. “The most stunning use of puppetry since The Lion King… absolutely masterful and immensely moving”, says am New York. “To experience War Horse on stage is to wonder how these puppets manage to etch themselves so deeply into your soul,” according to the Chicago Tribune. And, in reference to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film adaptation of the novel, the powerful Ben Brantley of the New York Times, predicts that “nothing on screen could replicate the specific thrill of watching Joey take on substance and soul, out of disparate artificial parts, before our eyes.”

There were some misgivings about the lack of sympathy engendered for the human characters and about the effectiveness of trying to add adult weight to a children’s story. But whatever the production’s flaws, they didn’t stop the Wall Street Journal from confidently proclaiming: “War Horse was a big hit in London, and it will be a big hit at New York's Lincoln Center Theater. It can't fail, and it shouldn't. Never again will you see such visually poetic, technically self-assured craftsmanship.”

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Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	War Horse Listing Page

Internal Links
	Live Tweeting: #WOSOuting to War Horse at the New London Theatre - 1st May 2013 features
	Michael Coveney: So, who wants to run the National Theatre after Hytner? - 11th Apr 2013 blog
	War Horse charges on - show extends to Feb 2014, new cast announced - 28th Jan 2013 news
	Photos: War Horse fifth anniversary gala - 26th Oct 2012 photos
	National announces details of War Horse's first UK tour - 2nd Oct 2012 news
	Brief Encounter with ... Michael Morpurgo - 11th Sep 2012 interviews
	Photos: Morpurgo on stage with War Horse for Kids Week Q&A - 17th Aug 2012 news
	Photos: War Horse makes Olympic appearance - 2nd Aug 2012 news
	Plays Cast: New War Horse Company, Almeida Bernarda - 8th Nov 2011 news
	National Plans War Horse UK Tour from Autumn 2013 - 20th Oct 2011 news
	- 1st Jan 1970
	Jo Caird: As Seen On TV? - When Theatre Looks to Television for Audiences - 21st Sep 2011 blog
	Brief Encounter With ... Handspring Puppet Company's Adrian Kohler - 5th Sep 2011 interviews
	Handspring & Morris Reunite for New Project??? - 30th Aug 2011 gossip
	Plays Extend: Court Soup & Bike, War Horse, Steps - 15th Jun 2011 news
	War Horse & Rylance Triumph at Tony Awards - 13th Jun 2011 news
	Jerusalem & War Horse Lead UK Tony Nominees - 3rd May 2011 news
	War Horse Makes £13.2m for 'Full Throttle' National - 6th Oct 2010 news
	Plays Extend: West End War Horse, Court Empire - 28th Apr 2010 news
	War Horse - 6th Apr 2009 reviews
	War Horse Gallops into New London Transfer, 3 Apr - 18th Dec 2008 news
External Links
	Wall Street Journal review
	New York Times review
	Bloomberg review
	Am New York review
	Chicago Tribune review