After eight record breaking years, the National Theatre today (17 September 2015) announced the final extension of its West End run of War Horse, with a last performance at the New London Theatre scheduled for 12 March 2016.
War Horse will have played over 3,000 performances and been seen by over 2.7 million people in London, and over seven million people worldwide; it has won 25 awards including the Tony Award for Best Play on Broadway. Directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s story about a boy and his horse set against the backdrop of the First World War is the most successful play in the National Theatre’s history.
A major UK tour of War Horse will begin in autumn 2017, as the country prepares to mark the final centenary year of the First World War, with details to be announced.
War Horse received its world premiere on 9 October 2007 at the National Theatre, where it played for two seasons before opening at the New London Theatre in March 2009. Since then, War Horse has been seen in 97 cities in 10 countries, including productions on Broadway, in Toronto and Berlin, with touring productions in the UK and Ireland, North America, the Netherlands and Belgium. Most recently a Chinese-language production opened in Beijing which moves to Shanghai later this year.
War Horse is directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, designed by Rae Smith, with puppet direction, design and fabrication by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company, lighting by Paule Constable, and movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick, with video design by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, songmaker John Tams, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Christopher Shutt.
A special series of platforms will be scheduled to celebrate the final six months of War Horse in London.
Photo: Brinkhoff Mögenburg
Click here to buy tickets to see War Horse at the New London Theatre
Read my 5* review of War Horse here
Take a look at my interview with War Horse star James Backway here
