Warhorse at Lincoln Center
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 
Last night we saw Warhorse at Lincoln Center. We first heard of this play (which is also a best-selling children's book and upcoming movie) from one of my dad's oldest friends, Tom, who is a composer, lyricist, and music producer here in New York. Over dinner one night a few months ago, Tom and his wife raved about the Warhorse production and once we heard the premise, we were captivated...
Warhorse is the story about an English boy and his horse. This Tony Award-winning play follows their relationship from boy/foal to maturity, and what happens after his horse is sold to the calvary and shipped off to France during World War I.
photo credit: Paul Kolnik/Lincoln Center Theater via the NY Times
The most amazing part about this entire stage production are the puppets. I'm talking puppets so life-like, you'll SWEAR THEY ARE REAL ANIMALS after like five minutes. The horses flick their ears, gallop, and even breathe. There's also crows and swallows that fly across the stage and a goose that chases some of the characters over farmland. It's imagination meets craft at its finest. Check out this video of Handspring Puppet Company explaining more about their puppet creations.
Want a glimpse of Warhorse highlights? Check out this Lincoln Center video:
I also like this video from Pony Magazine. It's of puppet Joey (the main horse in Warhorse) meeting a real horse. There's no sound in the clip, but it's fascinating to watch the real horse's reactions to the puppet!
We went to Warhorse with another couple, and all four of us loved the play. With many scenes taking place in the warzone, Warhorse is dark and dramatic. Sometimes even a little terrifying. There's emotion in the perspective (Germans, French, English) and relationships, human conflict (father/son, boy/horse, brother/brother.) It's an absolute brilliant stage production, so different from all the plays I've seen before. There were few dry eyes at the close of the curtain.
Here's some pics from our time last night.... and there's a bump photo for all of you who have been asking. I'm almost at 25 weeks now. Lincoln Center is so beautiful at night!
Learn more about Warhorse the production.
Read a NY Times interview with the puppeteers.
Check out this USA Today review of the play.
Hear the soundtrack.
Buy Warhorse tickets.
5 Comments | tagged New York City, USA, animals, art, community, culture, entertainment, handmade, theatre | Share Article | Tweet
Reader Comments (5)
Wow! Those puppets are amazing!
I have also heard such amazing things about this show. Glad y'all got to see it. In addition to WarHorse, I have heard of this amazing production called "Sleep No More" its based on a Shakespeare play and heard its different than anything Broadway or even Off-Broadway has ever seen. Havent heard a person say a bad thing about it. Check it out or maybe.... maybe we can go see it while I am in town?
OMG..... i want a puppet horse....
The puppets are so cool! Sounds like a great production. :)
I saw this production too in NYC and every seat in this small, intimate theater is great - an AMAZING production! Loved the story, loved the drama, and the puppeteers are so talented they easily pull you into the REAL animals.