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BOSFAL12

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRINKHOFF/MÖGENBURG HOTTEST TICKET London cast of War Horse of heart and hind THE REAL STARS OF THIS FALL'S OPERA HOUSE PRODUCTION OF WAR HORSE ARE THE 120-POUND HAND-CRAFTED PUPPETS. BY JARED BOWEN F rom the moment War Horse galloped on-stage in London, it has been a theatrical phenomenon. Based on a popular British novel, the play centers on Joey, a spirited horse raised by Albert, a young man in the British countryside. Conscripted by the British military during World War I (against Albert's wishes), Joey is sent on a wayward journey through Europe—serving on both sides of the war—as Albert makes it his own mission to find and rescue his horse from the horrors of war. In arguably the most striking use of puppets since The Lion King, the breathtakingly realistic Joey and War Horse's other beautiful animals were 70 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM crafted by the Handspring Puppet Company, which received a special Tony Award for the effort last year. The show features 14 animal puppets, including nine horses, a goose, and four other birds. But the horses are the centerpieces. At 120 pounds, 10 feet long, and 8 feet tall, they are framed in cane and aluminum and draped in a hosiery-like Georgette fabric that comprises the skin. Each is manipulated by an extensively trained team of three puppeteers using levers and harnesses to enact movements including breathing, tilting the ears, and whipping the tail. One head puppeteer continued on page 72

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