War horse can you imagine

If anything, the puppets bring the imagery of the book to life in a more vivid way than the novel itself. Watching these puppet-horses come to life on stage proves their success as a solution to the main obstacle of staging War Horse.

The big debate naturally ends up asking this: is the play better than the book? This, obviously, is not present in the play. However, I would argue where the play excels is its visual effects and the balance between Joey and the soldiers.

Based on this, the stage might be the more appropriate form to tell this story. Although both versions are definitely worth your time, the play may have just pipped the book to the post. I am usually a firm believer in books always being better than their film or stage counterparts, but when it comes to War Horse , I think this really could be the exception to that rule. Your email address will not be published.

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When Handspring came over from South Africa, I took the puppeteers down to Devon and we spent some time on a farm, so they could get a sense of what horses are like. At rehearsals, I sat with the cast and answered their questions: about farming and Devon and the first world war. I loved being involved. I looked at all of Nick's scripts and told them what I thought, what changes to make. They listened to some of it. I was well aware I was the amateur among the professionals, so I bit my tongue — sometimes.

I remember speaking to Philip Pullman [whose series His Dark Materials was adapted by the National] and he said: "Honestly, they know what they're doing. You shouldn't get involved in theatre or film if you don't think they can do your book. On the first night of previews, War Horse didn't work. The puppets looked great, the music and acting were good, but somehow it didn't come together.

It was as if all the pieces of the jigsaw were right, but they didn't fit. And there was only a week to fix it. I didn't go to see it again because I was so upset. I didn't sleep for three or four days. I couldn't see it lasting more than a couple of weeks.

But on press night, the most magical transformation had taken place: the jigsaw puzzle fitted. Midway, I was suddenly aware of this extraordinary atmosphere around me: the audience was so engaged, in a way I had never seen before. At the end, a thousand people rose as one. Tears were streaming down faces. It was an extraordinary achievement. War Horse belongs with me, not to me: it belongs to everyone else now.

But I don't want to let it go. About once a year I put a costume on and go on stage in a crowd scene and sing the songs, just to feel part of it again. This year is the centenary of the first world war and it is a happy thing that the play they began 10 years ago is still on today. Still, it annoys me that I didn't see the play before I wrote the book: I would have written a much better book.

I hadn't read War Horse before I was approached to adapt it, so I got a copy and sat down with it. When I finished I thought: this isn't something that you would immediately think of as a stage play. It's a story by a horse, told in the first person! It was another three years before the play finally opened. From the very beginning, we said that we would use puppets. Imagine putting real horses on stage; do you know how frightening that would be?

Horses can't act. But would this puppet be able to act?