War Horse tour to visit Alhambra theatre, Bradford (From Ilkley Gazette)

War Horse tour to visit Alhambra theatre, Bradford

7:00am Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News

The acclaimed production of War Horse is coming to Bradford – the only Yorkshire stop on its first UK tour.

Seen by more than 2.4 million people worldwide since its premier at the national theatre in 2007, War Horse will visit the Alhambra in 2014, it has been announced.

The powerful play is based on Michael Morpurgo’s best-selling children’s book about a Devon farm horse taken to the First World War battlefields in France.

Caught in enemy crossfire, horse Joey ends up serving on both sides during the war before becoming entangled in barbed wire in No Mans Land. His owner, farmer boy Albert, embarks on a treacherous mission to find the horse and bring him home.

War Horse was made into a film by Steven Spielberg, released this year.

The stage version features ground-breaking puppetry, bringing galloping and breathing horses to life.

Speaking at the launch of the UK tour, Michael Morpurgo said: “War should never be entertainment, yet the National Theatre has created an extraordinary show.

“For me, the reason it works is that it has huge integrity and it isn’t sentimental. It hurts, it’s emotional. It tells of the experience of war from the horse’s point of view. It’s for children of nine, ten and above, parents and grandparents.”

Mr Morpurgo said inspiration came from growing up as a war baby.

He added: “Every writer has to write about what they care about. I was born in 1943 with evidence of war around me. I played on bombsites, I saw war in my mother’s eyes as she remembered the death of her brother.”

After meeting an old man who had fought in the First World War and spoke of looking after horses, Mr Morpurgo decided to write about the experience of horses during the war.

“Almost as many horses as men died in that war. They died on the wire, in the mud, they were machine-gunned and died of exhaustion. I wanted to write about the universal suffering of war through a horse’s eyes,” he said.

War Horse, which comes to Bradford from the West End, has won countless awards. It runs at Bradford’s Alhambra from May 26 to June 14, 2014. Tickets are on sale on (01274) 432000.