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What’s On: War Horse, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton




THE Tony Award winning play War Horse will open at Southampton Mayflower Theatre next week.

Based on Sir Michael Morpurgo’s global best-selling novel, War Horse, adapted by Nick Stafford and originally directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, has become the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre, winning more than 25 major awards and been seen by over 8.3 million people worldwide.

The cast of War Horse in rehearsals. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography.
The cast of War Horse in rehearsals. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography.

The play tells the remarkable story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War. This moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness, filled with stirring music and songs, featuring ground-breaking puppetry work by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, which brings galloping, charging, horses to thrilling life on stage.

At the outbreak of war, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land.

Behind the scenes of War Horse in rehearsals. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography
Behind the scenes of War Horse in rehearsals. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography

Albert, who remained on his parents’ Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. Although still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

The current tour of War Horse marks 110 years since the start of the First World War and follows the 40th anniversary of the publication of Sir Michael’s novel, which has been translated into 44 languages and sold more than two million copies worldwide.

War Horse will be at Southampton Mayflower Theatre
War Horse will be at Southampton Mayflower Theatre

Sir Michael said: “I was aware, very early on in life, of the damage that war did. After the war the country was in shock. The divorce rate multiplied by four and my family was one of these. I was a war baby who grew out of the war with the taint of it still there and unexplained.”

War Horse premiered in 2007 at the National Theatre, where it played for two seasons before opening at the New London Theatre in March 2009.

Southampton Mayflower Theatre is putting on War Horse
Southampton Mayflower Theatre is putting on War Horse

War Horse will be on stage at Southampton Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday 8th October to Saturday 19th October. Tickets are from £27.

For more information and bookings visit www.mayflower.org.uk or contact the box office on 023 8071 1811.



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