Children in Class 3 had the opportunity to go to London and see the West End production of Michael Morpurgo’s Warhorse. The performance was superb and you can read Amelia Ward’s account to get a flavour of this fabulous play;
We have read a variety of interesting books at school but this one really stretched my imagination! We read the fantastic book, “war horse” and found out that we were going to see the superb live show at the National Theatre (in London)! After the enjoyable journey to London we finally arrived at the theatre.
We stood in the foyer (it was very small) as our teacher, Mrs Speigal, gave us our tickets. As we looked above with excitement, there was half a horse made of brown metal and leather for the mane and tail suspended from the ceiling. We were sent to our comfortable seats and heard a quiet murmur of voices .And then it began! An annoying lady singing folk songs, wearing a red pinafore and a yellow shirt, came onto the stage and the performance began.
My favourite parts were when Joey was a cute foal and a burst of music came and he changed into a smart fully grown horse! The atmosphere was great because of the movements of the foal when it transformed and separated into a fully grown horse. Also I liked it when, at the end, Albert was with Joey and they met Albert’s mother and father –everyone cheered (the daunting war was over!)
The horses were created from metal and wood, and were worked by up to three people at a time .The movements were very realistic (we soon forgot that people were controlling them), which required a lot of skill and precision. Because I have read the book and watched the film, the story was very clear to follow.
It is 100 years since the start of World War 1 .This play, book and film brought home the reality and horror of war and how it affected every man, woman and even our animals forever.
Overall, I loved this show. It was wonderful as it really made me feel how the war actually was in real life.
The whole experience was breathtaking and I would recommend it to everyone!
By Amelia Ward