"A thrilling roller-coaster ride... Credit the extraordinary ingenuity of Handspring Puppet Company for exciting that area of our brains that controls wonder."
- Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times
"A grandly theatrical, warmly human fable."
- Eric Marchese, Back Stage
"An evening full of magical brilliance that reminds you why live theatre can be so powerfully dynamic and beautiful."
- Timothy Kuryak, BroadwayWorld.com
"An opportunity for adults to reconnect with the childhood enchantments of bedtime fables, folk tales and storybook adventures."
- Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times
"A total theater experience sure to dazzle children from 8 to 80."
- Bob Verini, Variety
WINNER! 5 Tony Awards® including Best Play of the year!
In addition, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones were presented with a Special Tony Award for Handspring Puppet Company's Artistic Achievement.
“WAR HORSE is so exhilarating that it makes you rejoice to be alive. Its sheer skill and invention are simply awe-inspiring.”
- The Times of London
This remarkable tale of courage, loyalty and friendship opened to rave reviews in London and New York. Coming exclusively to the Ahmanson.
England, 1914. As World War One begins, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped from England to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.
You’ve never seen anything quite like War Horse. This epic tale is both highly inventive spectacle and powerfully moving drama, with one of the largest casts (over 30) ever assembled on the Ahmanson stage. This odyssey of a boy and his horse took London by storm before opening on Broadway in Spring 2011.
"On Broadway, War Horse Enters the Winners Circle!"
-- TIME Magazine review April 15, 2011
The horses in this amazing piece of theatre are life-size AND life-like: crafted in cane, steel, leather and aircraft cables, by the extraordinary Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, they embody the fire, spirit and nobility of living, breathing steeds.
"This spellbinding show runs full gallop with theatrical magic. It is epic and intimate and compels you to hold your breath in anticipation."
-- New York Daily News review April 15, 2011
This National Theatre of Great Britain production will thrill audiences at the Ahmanson. War Horse, filled with stirring music and song, is an astonishing event every family with children over 13 will enjoy.
"GENIUS isn't too strong a word to describe this astonishing production."
- Daily Telegraph, London
More About the Show
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Handspring Puppet Co. & the genius puppetry behind War Horse.
"Puppets always have to try to be alive," says Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company, a gloriously ambitious troupe of human and wooden actors. Beginning with the tale of a hyena's subtle paw, puppeteers Kohler and Basil Jones build to the story of their latest astonishment: the wonderfully life-like Joey, the War Horse, who trots (and gallops) convincingly onto the stage at the recent March 2011 TED Conference: Ideas worth spreading.
About Handspring Puppet Company
Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, of Handspring Puppet Company, bring the emotional complexity of animals to the stage with their life-size puppets. Their latest triumph: "War Horse."
Handspring Puppet Company was founded in 1981 by four graduates of the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town, South Africa. Two of the co-founders, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, continue to run the company. Originally they created shows for children and thereafter works for adult audiences. Arguably one of the greatest puppetry companies in the world, Handspring has since collaborated with a succession of innovative South Africa directors including Malcolm Purkey, Barney Simon and artist William Kentridge.
Apart from seasons throughout theatres across South Africa, Handspring has been presented at many international festivals including Edinburgh, the Avignon Festival, the Next Wave Festival at BAM in New York, The African Odyssey Festival at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, Theatre d' Automne in Paris, Theatre der Welt in Germany, as well as in Hong Kong, Singapore, Adelaide, Zurich and Bogota.
The company provides an artistic home and professional base for a core group of performers, designers, theatre artists and technicians who collaborate with them on a project basis. Based in South Africa they continue to explore the boundaries of adult puppet theatre within an African context.
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KABC goes behind the scenes with the star puppet of War Horse.
KTLA's Allie Mac Kay on stage with War Horse's Joey.
Are you a member of NETFLIX?
Netflix has included The Making of War Horse as both a DVD rental and through its streaming services. The documentary goes backstage at London’s National Theatre to chronicle the production of the award-winning play War Horse, which features puppets designed by the Handspring Puppet Company. Netflix members can get more information and view the online version by clicking here.