Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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PHOTOGRAPH BY BRINKHOFF/MÖGENBURG (LONDON PRODUCTION); KEVIN KANE/WIREIMAGE (TONY AWARDS) HOTTEST TICKET also have to show the trajectory of the character and have no words to do that like people do. We start with a two-week training period where the puppeteers learn the mechanics of the horse, observe live horses, and work solely on the puppetry without any interaction with other actors or scene work. And then it's followed by a rehearsal period where the rest of the cast joins in. BC: In terms of the puppeteers, how do you decide what the audience members will see on stage? Kohler and Jones accepting their Tony Award. INSIGHT War Horse October 10–21 Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., 617-259-3400; bostonopera house.com Tickets from $33 continued from page 70 works outside the horse's frame, while two others operate from within the horse as the "heart" and "hind." Boston Common spoke with one of Handspring Puppet Company's co-founders, Adrian Kohler. BC: Had you been intimately familiar with horses prior to working on this project? Adrian Kohler: I rode horses when I was a kid on my grandfather's farm, and so did Basil [ Jones, Kohler's Handspring co-founder]. He rode as a youngster. We studied real horses on a farm, the horse racing movies, and read as much as we could. The way horses respond to other horses and to people in the world is what provides the substance of the horse characters in our show. BC: Were there any fundamental elements of the novel that most informed your creation? AK: This horse starts its life on a farm in a fairly idyllic (in horse terms) situation, with a boy who loves the animal. When the war comes, the horse is sold to the war and starts off as a British horse and crosses the line in France and becomes a German horse. He goes through all four years of the war—not taking sides in the war like people do. He has to survive. And because of that you start to feel, well, how futile is this war? There are people who don't want to be there who are killing each other. And the horse really seems to highlight that by being a neutral character. BC: The puppetry must require an intense concentration. AK: It's a huge job. The horses are the main characters on stage for nearly the whole of a two-hour production. And the horses go through a lot of trials in that time. They both have to hit their biographic marks and 72 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM A cast member of War Horse. AK: It takes about five minutes for you to get used to it, and then you don't see the puppeteers anymore. And it takes quite a particular actor to agree to obliterate him- or herself on stage. Only by doing that will the character show through. If the performer is not ready to let go of his or her own persona, the puppet won't live. The consequence of that sacrifice is you get a huge reward because the audience imagines the horse is a real horse in front of them. BC: People find themselves sobbing at the end. Does that represent the ultimate measure of success for you? AK: I've seen the show many times, and I worked on the mechanics. For me, there's no illusion anymore, and yet I am still caught up with the emotion. The story is simple but strong. And I think there's something very real in the way it touches the emotion in you. We all feel for creatures that are defenseless, whether they are human or animal. BC: Is there something particularly moving about the horse? AK: In a way, all our cities until 1920 were designed around the horse. The working horse was everywhere and then during the First World War, which is some of our play, so many horses were killed and the landscapes in Britain, France, and Germany changed completely. The machine took over. I think the play is a reflection of both the horrors of war and the war on innocent creatures. It was also a period when the world changed, and we lost something. BC SAVE THE STEEDS A night at the theater can save Boston's equine friends. The majestic steeds on stage in War Horse aren't the only ones in need of rescuing. The Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit, a group dedicated to preserving the city's mounted unit in a time of harsh budget cuts, must raise $155,000 to keep Boston's mounted unit. The Friends are hosting a special benefit on October 17. Patrons will receive premium seats to War Horse and attend a special reception following. All proceeds go to the mounted unit. "The horses make a huge difference in everybody's daily life," says organizer Julie Donahue. Find out more at savebostonshorses.org.