WarHorse

Last Saturday night, Abbey and I had the pleasure, yet again, or ushering at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but knew from a little background on the play that it had the potential of being phenomenal...and it was!

WarHorse is the Tony award winning play based on the book of the same title written by children's author Michael Morpurgo. I had seen clips of the show while ushering previously at the Aronoff, so I knew the horses, played by puppeteers, would be a huge presence onstage...but that is an understatement.

I had an opportunity to sit in the fourth row, so I never really stopped noticing the puppeteers. This is definitely a show that further back in the house would have been an advantage, but I was still fascinated by the detail that was visible probably only up close. Blinking eyes, rotating ears, breathing up and down, stomping hooves and flowing manes cannot describe what it actually looked like. For all practical purposes, there were two live horses onstage that night.

This is the only performance I've ever attended, where "unseen" performers (the puppeteers) received more applause than, and even a standing ovation before the "real" actors. But it was a history lesson for Abbey and I also.

She's studied U.S. History this year and therefore has learned a little about World War I. I confess that my own knowledge of that war is far less than that of World War II or even the Civil War, my two favorite historical periods. I knew about the trench warfare that occurred, and as with all wars, the inevitability that it lasted much longer than anyone predicted. But what this play brought to life for me was the evolution of warfare that took place during this war...like possibly none other.

When Cavalry soldiers head into the front lines with only a sword and a steed and are mowed down by machine gun fire, the disparity between the old and the new is difficult to watch. I know technological advances always occur at lightning pace during wars...sometimes because they have to. And while I would never say that there is anything humane about warfare...the human element seemed to all but vanish during this...The Great War.

By the end of the play...and the war...the horse has been replaced forever by the great tank Beast that also forever changed the face of war.

This is a great show and if your children are not disturbed by loud noises and non-bloody warfare, it's even a show for them. The word "f-in" is used a lot...but it's spoken precisely how I've spelled it...with three letters missing in between. Use your judgment, but a piece of history that's entertaining and teaches at the same time is rare. The show runs through this Sunday, April 7th, and good seats are still available.

If you don't think you'll make it to the show, at least click on the YouTube video below to get a glimpse at this imaginative retelling of part of our history.