Stage | The Guardian: Last week Nicholas Hytner, the artistic director of the National theatre, made a joke, in a way that made you sure of its underlying seriousness: "If we are ever slightly dubious about whether a play will sell, we wonder if there's a part for Joey in it."
Joey is the equine puppet hero of War Horse, the award-laden theatrical phenomenon that's playing to full houses at the West End and Broadway; has a UK tour in the offing; and is being produced in Berlin, Australia and Canada. And aside from being a vast equine model that causes grown men to weep, Joey is simultaneously a lifesaver, a golden bullet: the central character of a show whose proceeds are insulating the National theatre from the effects of government funding cuts. In 2011-12 the show earned the theatre £18m.
10 comments:
What a tantalizing concept, to let designers run loose in a studio with not parameters and see what they come up with. I wish I could have seen War Horse in order to have a better understanding of how these shows might effect each other, but its legacy alone leaves quite a mark. It will be hard for A Midsummer Night's Dream to escape from the shadow of War Horse since they are so closely affiliated, even if in concept unrelated. Midsummer with puppets is quite an interesting idea, Shakespeare is so classic and so widely interpreted in so many different ways, but everyone so far has used people in the productions. Hopefully the puppets will enhance the experience instead of taking away from the beauty of his playwriting.
Since seeing War Horse, I could understand why it was a big hit and why the designers would then want to transfer some of the design concepts over to Midsummer. What I don't understand is why they are relying on it so heavily when it was stated at another point in the article that we must remember War Horse wasn't originally created to be a box office sell out. It was an experiment with a talented team and alot of space. While I agree that trying new productions with puppets is an exiting concept to put onstage I don't think they should be used to try to reap profit, though I do think regional theaters could use some new income.
This will be an interesting production to keep an eye on. I've been really fascinated with Handspring's methods and their creations have been wonderful. It'll be hard to steer this production away from the behemoth that is War Horse but it will allow a greater audience to be interested and potentially go see this production. I hope that Handspring's next production is as big a hit as their previous work.
Puppetry can bring a totally different feel and look to a production, but I really don't think that it should be included just because of previous success with puppetry in War Horse. If they truly feel that puppets are the best way to present the show, then by all means they should go for it. But the design choice of puppets should not be forced onto the show. It may look amazing and could turn out wonderful, but the new production of midsummer should not be based off of war horse's success.
I think this production of Midsummer could potentially be really interesting, and provide a new take on a classic Shakespeare. It's true that the same company that did War Horse may be working on this production, but I don't think that deserves the criticism that they are trying to capitalize on the success of War Horse and force these amazing puppets into another box. The breeze blocks that they mention in the article are nothing like the horse puppet in War Horse. These two productions could be massively different in every way except the fact that they both use puppets.
I do think that with the fame and recognition of Handspring, more people may come to see Midsummer just because they wonder if it's like War Horse. I don't think that's a bad thing either.... it exposes more people to Shakespeare and to theatre in general.
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the man who creates the most phenomenal puppets, there could not be a more exciting combination. Watching those horse, watching the way he constructed them as well as other animals is just incredible. They use cane to create the structures and various mechanisms, some that are used to do things like put up an umbrella. It is really ingenious what they have figured out to do with such unusual materials.
It is good to know that the horse structure and basis will still be made for the donkey head in Midsummer. I feel like they will be challenged in different ways on this production and I wonder if they will be going so far as to create things like the fairy wings etc… They have a lot of options so I hope it all turns out well.
I could not be happier that somebody has decided to combine shakespeare and puppets. Many of shakespeare's plays have some element of fantasy and using puppets for it is brilliant. Handspring puppets creates suck realist movements with their puppets that even the fantastical elements of Midsummer Nights Dream could draw audience members in. As for the experimental part of this project, it could turn out terrible compared to War Horse. Both projects are experiments and there is no sure way of knowing what will happen but, whether it is a success or a failure Handspring puppets is beginning to explore new realms of theatre allowing other directors, designers, actors and puppeteers to build off of.
I agree they are trying to capitalize on the success of war horse, but like Cat I dont necessarily think that is a bad thing. It does expose theater, and Shakespeare to more audiences. And seeing it with this element makes it more interesting and could leave the audience with a new point of view on the show.
I haven't seen War Horse yet, but i think they are exaggerating a bit too much when they say it "causes grown men to weep" .
Unfortunately I have not seen War Horse in person, but from seeing multiple videos of the horse in action, it amazes me. Those are the types of crazy innovative concepts that really draw an audience. I bet they sold a lot of tickets simply because of people seeing and hearing about these puppets. And while you want your audience to appreciate the entire production, not just that one element, if that one element can get them in the seats to then see the entire production, that seems like a win to me.
Whoda thunk that an inaminate, human-operated object would be the reason you still have a job and a more-than-comfortable income? I've never seen the production, but even from just seeing previews and reading about the storyline I start to get a little jerked up inside. And that's for a show that's based on a real story. Now to imagine how they'll transfer that aesthetic and technology over to the world of Shakespeare for a show like Midsummer that can take such a fantastical design is absolutely mind-boggling to me. And since Midsummer's already a classic, I have no doubt it my mind that they'll continue to bring in a lavish amount of revenue.
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