From Novel To Stage: The Show That Brought Me To Tears

Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be talking about the epic stage show War Horse, which I saw on 17th May 2025 at The royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. This play was adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo and originally performed at the National Theatre.

This told the story of a bond between a young man and his farm horse, and after his horse was sent to war, he did everything he could be reunited with him. 

I saw this show back in 2019, so to see it again was a spectacle I couldn’t miss. And with a personal situation going on at home (which thankfully as I’m writing this all is now well), going out to see some entertainment really did help. 

Albert was the main character of the show who Joey trusted the most, and he was played by Tom Sturgess. I loved his tactics to get joey to trust him, but it all built the bond they shared from foal to adult. And you know when you love someone when you are prepared to risk everything to be with them again. And he did just that, after his alcoholic father ted (Karl Haynes), sold Joey despite making a promise to Albert that he could keep him if joey could plough. But his mum Rose (Jo Castleton), was more sympathetic. Even though she had doubts when Ted first got Joey, Albert made her see how important it means to him.

The people who puppeteered Joey and Topthorn should really get a round of applause. It takes a full team, brute strength and mind over body weight when it comes to making characters like joey and Topthorn come to life. I didn’t know who exactly we’re the puppeteers for the show I saw (as I didn’t see a photo of them in the programme), but they definitely did a grand job. Well done you lot! But one puppeteer I did see was Gun Seun who puppeteered the Goose. One of the characters where it made the show had some light hearted moments in the emotional scenes that were to come. 

Chris Williams took on the role of Lieutenant Nicholls. Nicholls could see through Alberts eyes how much joey meant to him, and even though he couldn’t do anything more when ted sold Joey, Nicholls explained that he will take care of joey the same way Albert took care of him, and even mentioned why he draws pictures. Despite meeting a fatal end in act 1 of the play, he kept his word about Joey.

Sally Swanson took on the singer, with each song showing a passage of time and the meaning behind what’s going on in the scene. I think this was partly the reason why I was moved to tears throughout the show, as even though it’s not a musical, it brought a greater meaning to the scene. And her voice is so powerful, and I can see why she was cast in this role. 

Diany Samba/Bandza took on the role of Emilie. She was a very curious character, who admired the horses just as much as Albert, and they warmed up to her purely for how Albert showed joey in particular how people should treat animals. Also loved how she didn’t care about the corpses around her, as at the age Emilie is at, you just want to seek curiosity. Her mum Paulette (Madeleine Leslay), just wanted to protect her from danger, but soon warmed up to the horses and also Captain Friedrich Müller (Alexander Ballinger), a solider who faked his death to give the horses a safe life and also have a with Paulette and Emilie, in the hope of being  reunited with her family. But it all came to a halt when he was caught out, but also then killed as a result of the tank that took over the battlefield. 

Finally, Ike Bennett took on the role of David Taylor. He was a fellow soldier of Albert, and there were some lovely moments between him and Albert (which I’ll mention in just a moment). It was a shame his ending was fatal, but he was a crucial part in Albert's journey to reuniting with Joey.

Despite it being an emotional watch, there were also moments of chuckles. These included when Albert and David wrote letters to Flossie and joey, Albert first joining the troupe, and when Albert wrote a letter to his parents on what horse is in French. There was also a moment when the Geordie and the German found joey, and deciding who should take him and where to take him was a great way to break the emotional tension, and to also save me a few tears before the ending! All those moments in particular did help break the emotions of the play, and to avoid it all being one note. 

I also loved the animated images of the drawings featured in the show. They were used to represent where we were, which featured the days where Albert taught Joey to plough, the locations of each scene and the dates of where we were at with the war. 

There are many distinct differences between the film and the stage show. These included Emilie's grandfather not being present at along the stage show, whereas in the film, he was featured when he showed Emilie the horses, and at the end when he realised how much joey means to Albert, knowing that it’s what Emilie would want. I also noticed that in the film, there was a girl who noticed Albert riding joey and was impressed, whereas in the show, there wasn’t. Finally, whilst we got to see Albert make his way to join the army, in the film, we only get to see a glance of considering joining, but in screen, a look is all you need to show what a character is thinking.

I think I only have two downsides to the show. The first one was that I couldn’t see clearly who was puppeteering which horse. And with their pictures not shown in the programme I couldn’t recognise them clearly. The second one was at some points, there was abit of sensory overload in the lights, which for someone who’s autistic, is not great. I know it was to resemble the thunder, the cameras they had during the war, and resembling the soldiers death, but it didn’t sit well with me for obvious reasons. But other than that, I couldn’t see any faults in the show really. 

Overall, I would give the show a 4.95. Once again it made me sob, there were moments of light and shade, and showed that the power of friendship and love can overcome any obstacle that comes in your way. And of course as seen below I had to get some merchandise, how could I not!

And that was my review of the adaptation of the novel by Michael Morpurgo. Let me know if you’ve seen the show and what your thoughts are, and if you haven’t seen it I hope this has been a real insight as to what I thought of it. Here is a link to the rest of the tour for those who haven’t seen it yet but want the chance to.

War Horse | UK & Ireland Tour | Official Play Website

See you soon for another blog. Until next time…

This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)