Ryder Smith), their bitter rivalry shared by their respective sons, Albert ( Seth Numrich) and Billy ( Matt Doyle). Ted pays a ridiculous amount for the horse merely to outbid his brother Arthur ( T. As a foal, Joey appears to grow before our eyes before being purchased by Ted Narracott ( Boris McGiver), a Devon farmer. What’s remarkable is how quickly the puppeteers, who also provide vocal sounds for the horses, vanish through sheer force of imagination.ĭirected by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris with a fluid narrative grasp and seamless cohesion between design and performance elements, the show follows the life of a horse named Joey from birth. Yet, in every way - their breathing, their flaring nostrils, twitching ears and soulful eyes, their powerful flanks and movements that can be skittish or graceful - these are not cute facsimiles but flesh-and-blood creatures. The designs eschew naturalism for constructions of leather, cloth, cane and wire that share every secret of the mechanisms involved. Operated onstage by teams of three or more puppeteers, the life-size horses are breathtaking in their detail. When it works, as it does so exquisitely here, this can be as transporting for adults as it is for children. It belongs to a rich tradition of British story- theater that favors artisanal craftsmanship over technology. ![]() While the puppetry designs of South African company Handspring and its founders Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones are the undisputed stars here, this is an entirely different, far more emotionally immersive experience than the Disney show. The writer and creative team make this story universal in its reflections on war, its consideration of how we define courage and cowardice, and its portrayal of the purest kind of love.Ĭomparisons to The Lion King are inevitable but also facile. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design.Alejandro González Iñárritu on 'Bardo': "The Most Challenging Filmmaking I Have Ever Done"Īdapted by Nick Stafford in association with the Handspring Puppet Company, the play is specific in its historic setting of World War I, yet any concerns about American audiences’ distance from that conflict are unfounded. The event is co-sponsored by the Sheila C. ![]() Yvette Christiansë, Visiting Professor of Africana Studies, Barnard College, and Associate Professor of English, Fordham Universityĭan Hurlin, puppeteer and Director of the Graduate Program in Theater, Sarah Lawrence Collegeīasil Jones and Adrian Kohler, Handspring Puppet Company They have collaborated with many artists including Malis Sogolon Puppet Troupe and South African artist William Kentridge, and have appeared in over two hundred venues in South Africa and abroad. Founded in 1981 by Basil Jones, Adrian Kohler, Jill Joubert and Jon Weinberg, the company has produced eleven plays and two operas, often directly addressing pressing political concerns such as the proceedings of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The extraordinary success of Warhorse has drawn attention to Handsprings decades-long experiments and innovations in the art of puppetry and their remarkable contribution to theater in South Africa. Taylor has worked with Handspring in developing two major works: the script for Ubu and the Truth Commission and the libretto for The Confessions of Zeno. They focus on puppetry as a contemporary medium of communication and advocacy, and look at what the artists have defined as object as verb, movement as thought and the authorial audience.Ĭome hear writer, curator and scholar Jane Taylor speak on Tuesday April 12, 7:00-9:00 p.m. ![]() ![]() On the eve of the premiere, Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, founders of Handspring Puppet Company and winners of Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for this piece, converse with South African-born poet, author, and scholar Yvette Christiansë and puppeteer Dan Hurlin. It will open at Lincoln Center on April 14, 2011. Set in World War I, the novel speaks of the immense slaughter of soldiers on all sides told from the perspective of an English farm horse. Warhorse is based on the celebrated novel by British writer Michael Morpurgo. Photo by Simon Anandįrom South Africa, via London, comes Warhorse, the hugely successful theater and puppetry collaboration between Cape Town’s Handspring Puppet Company and the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain. Handspring Puppet Company and the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, Warhorse, 2010 (production still).
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