![]() ![]() ![]() It is pretty exhausting – we reckon that as part of Joey we would walk around 13 miles each night.īook your tickets to see War Horse at warhorseonstage. Joey is a marathon, because he’s the main character and is on stage a lot, whereas Topthorn is a sprint, because when he’s on stage he has a lot of movement. I’ve played Joey and Topthorn and they have very different personalities. It’s hard work, but we’re well practised. We make the noises on an in-breath, whereas to talk you would normally do so as you breath out. They have been developing continuously ever since. It was never intended that the puppets would vocalise, but we started playing about with noises in rehearsal and it was decided to incorporate them on stage. I watch every move they make, what they make it in response to and the different footfalls for each gait. To learn the equine behaviour we went on a trip to a yard to watch the horses and even though I have been with War Horse for two-and-a-half years, I still spend a lot of time watching videos of horses for homework – we never stop learning. Much of who changes direction and pace depends on who can see, as we often have restricted vision, but we also practise our awareness of where we are on stage and our relation to everyone else on it. Videos Making War Horse - The Puppet Factory What is a Puppet Handspring: Being a Puppeteer How To Make a Puppet in Theatre Breathing Puppets Thinking. We have no leader and although our route is plotted and practised, each night involves lots of improvisation. If one of us changes the way we’re breathing, the others know that they are changing their emotional and technical cues, and we can react to this. ![]() We often have a limited view of each other, but we communicate through our breathing. I control Topthorn’s hind end and I use the tail as his emotional indicator by using a bicycle brake in each hand, one for vertical movement and one for horizontal movement. The heart’s emotional indicator is the breathing, which changes to reflect the horse’s state. The heart and hind end’s technical indicators are the legs and their change of gait. The head’s technical indicator is the directional focus of the horse’s head and the emotional is his ears, which tune into everything that is going on around him, just as a real horse would. We each have two indicators – emotional and technical. ![]() Another puppeteer controls the head with a pole. The heart and hind end are positioned underneath the main body, and carry the weight of the puppet, which is attached to a backpack, leaving our hands free to control the indicators. Depending on the weight of the rider, we may be carrying up to 150kg.Įach puppet is controlled by three puppeteers – the head, the heart and the hind end. Joey and Topthorn weigh 54 and 64kg respectively. The main structure of the puppets is aluminium and cane that has been soaked in water and then moulded into shape. I went backstage at the West End show to speak to Sam Wilmott, the production’s longest-serving puppeteer, who currently controls the hind end of Topthorn. War Horse has won legions of fans with its emotional portrayal of the First World War, first on stage and then on screen. I went to the door of the cell where Drotte still labored over the client who had tried to take her own life, and retumed with his keys.Georgia Guerin went to the New London Theatre to see War Horse, then popped backstage to speak to puppeteer Sam Wilmott and find out exactly how it all worked… The rule against apprentices working in the oubliette was intended to prevent escapes and I knew that tall though she was, this slender woman could never overpower me, and that should she do so she would have no chance of making her way out without being challenged. I could argue only weakly, knowing she was right in principle. When it was done I stood waiting, knowing I should leave and yet unable to go. I put the books on her table beside the candlestand and her food pan and carafe of water there was hardly room for them. Standing before her, with her own cell door closed and locked behind me, I found myself unable to speak. "Three more." The brown book went through the slot as well, but the other two, the green book and the folio volume with arms on its cover, were too wide. I'll have my own supper soon, and there's hardly enough for you." "Here I have no refreshment to offer you but this. I asked for books - two days ago when I came. Unfortunately, you never called while I was there." "If this were my suite in the House Absolute, I could offer you better comfort. "Drotte will open your door later and give them to you," I said. "Can't you? It's terrible to look through this and see them, and not be able to touch them." ![]()
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