The genius puppetry behind War Horse | Handspring Puppet Company

TL;DR

Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones discuss the process of creating and evolving a puppet horse, from their early experiments to the creation of Joey for the play "War Horse."

Transcript

Adrian Kohler: Well, we're here today to talk about the evolution of a puppet horse. Basil Jones: But actually we're going to start this evolution with a hyena. AK: The ancestor of the horse. Okay, we'll do something with it. (Laughter) Hahahaha. The hyena is the ancestor of the horse because it was part of a production called "Faustus in Africa," ... Read More

Key Insights

• 🎭 Puppets have the ability to come alive on stage and evoke emotions, requiring breath and movement to create a sense of life and connection with the audience.
• 🔧 Puppets are objects meticulously constructed using a combination of old and new technologies, using wood, cloth, plywood, and cane to create a convincing and expressive character.
• 🎪 Puppetry has a rich history and tradition in different cultures, such as the Bambara Bamana puppets of Mali, which helped the puppeteers gain a renewed respect for the art form.
• 🏭 The process of designing and creating puppets is complex and handmade, involving careful planning, prototypes, and constant refinement to ensure the puppet can fulfill its intended functionality and perform convincingly.
• 🐎 The puppet horse in particular was a major challenge that required innovative engineering and manipulation techniques to create a lifelike character that could be ridden and participate in coordinated movements like cavalry charges.
• 🎥 The puppet horse's design includes various features and mechanisms, such as movable ears, legs controlled by string tendons, tail articulation, and the illusion of breathing, all operated by skilled puppeteers, each responsible for a specific component.
• 📚 The puppet horse played a crucial role in the theater production of "War Horse," based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, and its success led to further development and refinement of the horse puppet, eventually becoming a staple of Handspring Puppet Company's repertoire.
• 👏 The performance of the puppet horse relies on the extensive research and expertise of the puppeteers, studying horse behavior and coordinating their actions to create a cohesive and believable character on stage.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones talk about the evolution of a puppet horse, starting with their work on a hyena puppet for a theater production in 1995.

• They explain how breath and movement are essential for bringing puppets to life on stage.

• The duo shares the challenges and innovations involved in creating Joey, the life-sized puppet horse for the play "War Horse."