I was lucky enough to review Nick Stafford's powerful adaptation of Morpurgo's novel War Horse at Bristol Hippodrome on the opening night which tells the story of Albert Narracott (Lee Armstrong) and his beloved horse, Joey, who ends up being requisitioned to fight for the British in the First World War.

The stage set is minimal with a just a plain backdrop that white strip which resembles torn newspaper which has projected back scenes and the dates of each relevant war date.

The opening scene is of Joey as a foal and shows the precise detail and knowledge the actors have studied to make you believe that you are actually seeing a real horse on stage, sniffing, breathing, frolicking, swishing its tail and precise movement of the ears when it is listening and you end up forgetting that they are actually puppets.

This story portrays the love bond and trust between man and horse and how reliant the war was on horses. Nick’s production tells the story through both the horse’s eyes and the soldiers.

When World War I breaks out, Narracott sells Joey for100 pounds to the Army without telling Albert. Albert wants to join the war but is too young.

Albert runs away at Christmas and lies about his age so that he can join the military as he wants to find Joey.

There is constant action happening on the stage from guns firing and the fall of dead soldiers and horses and even a tank appears.

You see Joey and Topthorn being caught up in enemy crossfire and serving both sides of the war, from leading Calvary horses to a cart horse to take the injured soldiers on a medical recovery trailer to pulling large military guns.

At the close of this production the cast, the puppeteers, Joey, Topthorn and even the goose get a deserved standing ovation. A brilliant production.

War Horse – Bristol Hippodrome runs until Saturday, February 14 on its final venue in the UK tour