Fight against future war horses

The much-acclaimed play, War Horse, is a contender for Tony awards this weekend. As probably everyone knows by now, the show – based on Michael Morpurgo's book of the same name – is about a horse involuntarily involved in World War I, the so-called Great War and “War to End All Wars.”

A woman who has read the book and seen the show recently commented on both. Here are her main points:

* buy and read the book, which is short, deeper and gives a more
nuanced and more poignant story of horses in the first World War
. . . and costs only $7, instead of buying tickets that cost $125
at the Vivian Beaumont theater in NYC.

* the book is so beautifully written and poignant that I think it
emphasizes the theme of humans' need to lay down our arms
and be peaceful more than the play does.

She found the show “impressive, particularly the beautiful puppets
for Joey, the hero horse and his supporting-star Topthorn, and as usual the special effects of the war are powerful.”

And she cites “a wonderful touch of irony in the presence of a goose at the very end (humans,is my interpretation) and the haunting voice of a balladeer singing, ‘only remember for what we have done’ as the stage lights go out.”
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