War Horse Reviews

Nigel from London

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT

I saw the London production a few months ago and it is by some distance one of the best plays I've seen in years. The puppets are the stars of the show, brilliantly manipulated by the actors who control them. The set design is awesome, vividly assisting the ever-changing storyline. And the plot executes what is to many an untold consequence of war, the fate of the million or so animals who lost their lives too. War Horse has it all and is great for all ages above 11 or 12, I'd say. It has humour, plot twists, a beautiful set, great acting, astounding puppetry and no little emotional impact too. A triumph.

Eden from Norway

BRILLIANT

I saw this show in London last year and it is close to perfect theatre - exciting, moving, thrilling, and the horses are extraordinary. I loved every minute.

Suzy kew from Connecticut

A PLAY FOR YOUR BUCKET LIST

The NY production is on a par with the one I saw in London in 2009. Astounding puppetry, brilliant stagecraft, including the sketchbook banner. Great characters; the war scenes stark and incredibly moving; hard to pick one above the others, but the night-time Channel crossing and the sight of the worn out ambulance horses that Joey and Topthorn replaced were heartbreaking. This story could have fallen into cliche and melodrama, but it doesn't. If anyone who sees it is not similarly moved, I would assume they do not understand the absolute stupidity and evil that is every war. I hope everyone keeps the ending a secret. It is a testament to how moving the play is that when I saw the play a few weeks ago, an audience member (sounded like an adult) yelled out 'NO!!!!!' when the action looked to take the worst turn possible. I've never witnessed that before. War Horse is not just exciting theatre, it is incredibly cathartic even today when so much in the world breaks our hearts. GO!!!

SAM from London, UK

A BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE

The best theatre production I have ever seen in my life. It has the ingenious capacity to leave an everlasting imprint on one's soul. Truly amazing.

Dennis from Atlanta, GA

INVISIBLE PUPPETEERS

Absolutely wonderful show. Very quickly forgot that there were people manipulating the horses. Story was touching. It didn't seem like 2.5 hours. Heard about War Horse from relatives who saw it in London. Highly recommend it, but, not for sensitive children or adults with little imagination. Great venue, no bad seats. Will see it again.

Marie G from Atlanta, GA

ABSOLUTELY, MIND-BLOWINGLY AMAZING!!!

The theatrical genius behind this production is worthy of the accolades it's already received. The content is absorbing enough, but add to it the brilliance of life-sized equines and you have a play that is NOT TO BE MISSED...advise theatre-goers to opt for premium seats so as to see up close the movements & actions of the puppet horses(did I say puppets? they're so much more than that)...This is sheer magic (but not for young kids)....

Becky from Indpls, Indiana

AWESOME!

We just saw this play on 7/7/11 and it was everything we had hoped for and read about. The puppets are mind-boggling and the acting was great. I especially liked the young man who played Albert. Would take anyone over 12 years of age due to some intense parts and the long length of the show. Amazing! Go see it!!

Sara from Birmingham

ASTONISHING

You wouldn't initially think it, but the actors controlling the puppets disappear, and you're left watching a real horse and even begin to develop an attachment to Joey. It really is a moving, powerful piece of theatre!

Marilyn & Keith Felstead from Devon UK

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EMOTIONALLY MOVING THEATRE !!

The acting was superb,especially Ted Narracott played by Andy Murray who held us spellbound! The horses become real and the stage setting was brilliant Seating is comfortable in this intimate theatre. Would really recommend it for a great evening out in new York. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

NYC/London from New York

LONDON 5 STARS, NYC 3 STARS

The London show which I've also seen is 5 stars, bar none. But this review is of the NYC production which is not the same show at all. Instead of authentic British accents and the spellbinding voice of the songman, we instead get sometimes unconvincing accents and a broadway-esque sounding songman with none of the character to his voice as the original. There was far less focus on the horses and my favorite, the goose, memorable scenes which were so powerful in the London original to bring me to tears were clipped and emotionless. Why on earth did they replace the wonderful scenes which were completely in german and french with 100% english, albeit in a laughable Hogan Hero's type accent. It seemed like so much emphasis was placed on the literal story that the somewhere along the way the magic was lost. That said, the puppetry was still amazing and worth seeing, and certain actors were just as good as the original-- the boy Albert, his father and mother and the captain were favs.

Charlie from New York

THE HORSES BEAR THE BURDEN ALONE

Though the puppetry is astonishing and the horses indeed bring great emotion to the stage, this is a cool enterprise. What might've been a surprising, moving, fast-paced one-act runs, alas, for almost three hours. And despite two, perhaps three, strong performances by the actors, there's a stage full of performers who do nothing with the nothing they're given to do. The audience tonight was clearly intrigued by the design and staging but ultimately seemed unmoved since, in the end, this is a one-trick pony. The company took, but did not earn, five bows.

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