Melbourne Secures World Renowned Tony Award-Winning Show War Horse

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The National Theatre of Great Britain and Global Creatures, in association with the Arts Centre, are proud to announce that Melbourne has secured the rights to stage the multiple Tony and Olivier Award-winning War Horse, for a season commencing in late 2012.

Admired by critics and audiences alike, War Horse will be staged at the Arts Centre’s State Theatre, opening in late 2012, with tickets going on sale in early 2012.

Premier Ted Baillieu said the announcement that Melbourne would stage War Horse confirmed Melbourne’s status as the theatre capital of Australia.”It is a great honour for Melbourne to be chosen by the UK’s National Theatre to host the Australian premiere season of what is from all accounts a truly impressive theatre production,” Mr Baillieu said.

“Melbourne is the best place to enjoy this award-winning and highly innovative production and I am sure many Victorians and visitors will flock to Melbourne’s Arts Centre to relish its delights.

“Melbourne’s and Victoria’s reputation as a world centre for theatre will be further enhanced by the War Horse partnership between the Victorian Major Events Company, the Arts Centre, Australian producers Global Creatures and the National Theatre.

“Productions such as War Horse bring jobs and investment and help to reinforce Melbourne’s status as one of the world’s most liveable cities,” Mr Baillieu said. Since its world premiere in London in 2007, War Horse has won numerous prestigious awards including two Laurence Olivier Awards, five Tony Awards and four Outer Critics’ Circle Awards amongst a host of others. The Handspring Puppet Company has also won many accolades including a 2011 Special Tony Award.

Nick Stafford’s stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book, War Horse is a magnificent drama which tells the heart wrenching story of Joey, the beloved horse of a boy called Albert, who is sold to the cavalry at the outbreak of World War I and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

At its heart are astonishing life-size puppets strong enough for men to ride, created by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to life on the stage. Life size horses traverse the stage, their flanks, hides and sinews built of steel, leather and aircraft cables. Actors, working with these astonishing, life-sized puppets, will lead Australian audiences on an emotionally-charged journey through history.

War Horse has played to packed houses at London’s National Theatre, the West End’s New London Theatre and New York’s Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Centre. A further production is due to open in February 2012 in Toronto, Canada with a US tour scheduled to start in Los Angeles in June 2012. Steven Spielberg’s new movie adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel will be released by DreamWorks Studios in late 2011.

“War Horse is a life affirming story about friendship, courage and family, which appeals to all ages. This is a production that brings the family together, we get people coming back again and again, and they always have the same reaction. It awakens something in you” says Chris Harper, Producer, National Theatre of Great Britain.

“The ANZAC spirit is deeply entrenched in the Australian ethos. We expect War Horse to have a great resonance in this country not only because of our connection to World War I but because themes of the land, loss and the ultimate triumph of friendship have a special place in the Australian psyche. We are proud to be bringing this highly acclaimed show to Australia in a co-production with the National Theatre.” says Carmen Pavlovic, CEO of Global Creatures.

Directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse is designed by Rae Smith, with puppet design and fabrication by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company, lighting by Paule Constable, and movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick; the puppetry directors are Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, with video design by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, songmaker John Tams, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Christopher Shutt.

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