War Horse comes to Teatro

Published Oct 14, 2014

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IN A WEEK’S time the global theatre phenomenon War Horse, presented in South Africa by Pieter Toerien, Rand Merchant Bank and The National Theatre of Great Britain, in association with Handspring Puppet Company, opens at The Teatro, at Montecasino in Johannesburg, before transferring to the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town in December.

War Horse is the coming-of-age tale of a young boy, Albert, and his adored horse, Joey, who has been bought to fight for the British in World War I. Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, who has written over 100 books and was Children’s Laureate from 2003 to 2005, War Horse has captured imaginations around the world with both the play and the Steven Spielberg movie.

But, says the writer, even though Joey has become something of a local celebrity and is much loved in the small community where he lives, “he is now going back to his other home, to Basil and Adrian, to the Handspring Puppet company, to the people who, with The National Theatre of Great Britain, conceived him, made him, grew him and transformed him from a gleam in my eye, from a horse on the page to a horse on the stage, and what a horse! Now Joey, in the mind’s eyes of the millions who have seen him, is the Handspring Joey, the South African Joey, your Joey and our Joey – everyone’s Joey.”

During its successful run on Broadway, War Horse received five Tony Awards, plus a special Tony for the Handspring Puppet Company. It is in its seventh successful year on the West End in London. The play has also been presented in Canada, the US, Australia, the Netherlands (in Dutch), Germany (in German), the UK and Ireland.

It opens at The Teatro at Montecasino on October 22, where it runs until November 30. The season at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town is from December 5 until January 4.

• R100 to R450 at Computicket or 0861 915 8000. For block bookings, call Geraldine on 011 511 1988, or e-mail [email protected] and for Cape Town, e-mail [email protected], or call 021 438 3301. No children under 10.

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