Watch the War Horse: Enjoy London’s famous plays and take a trip to the theatres

London is a city, rich in art and culture. London is the home of authors, poets, playwrights since centuries. Be it adult literature or children’s literature, London has been giving birth to a large number of authors who have internal reputation and have won some of the precious awards of Literature. Theatres form a major part of London’s attractions hosting plays written by reputed playwrights. Apart from pieces by playwrights, these theatres also take up novels written by reputed authors and make adaptations of these novels. Most of these plays staged on these theatres reflect the history and the life of the British people. Plays are performed regularly and apart from the usual ones, new ones are introduced every now and then. A lot of hard work is put into the making of these plays. Among the famous theatres of London, The National Theatre and The New London Theatre have a worldwide reputation and they are the places where not only the tourists but also the locals enjoy visiting. One of the plays ruling these theatres of London is a play called War Horse.

War Horse is the play which is an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel based on the first World War, War Horse. Michael Morpurgo is a British author, poet and a dramatist. He became the third British Children’s Laureate. The author was born on fifth October, 1943. He primarily wrote books for children. War Horse is one such novel which earned him a lot of fame. Morpurgo’s works reflect an enchanting narrative embedded with a beautiful story telling. The themes coming again and again in his works are the victory of an outsider who tries to survive in odd situations and characters having relationships with nature. The backgrounds of Morpurgo’s works include the first World War and the Cornish coast. Ted Hughes’ Poetry in Making, Pail Gallico’s The Snow Goose and Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea were some of the works of reputed writers who inspired his writings. The adaptation of War Horse became so popular that all the tickets of the play were sold out consecutively for two seasons when it was performed at the National Theatre of London. The National Theatre hosts a large number of plays by the famous theatre companies. The types of plays hosted include classic drama and Shakespeare productions. The theatre also gives space to new plays. War Horse is one such new play which was performed there. After these seasons which earned critical appraisal, it was transferred to the New London Theatre of West End.

                 The New London Theatre is situated in the West End, at the corner of Drury Land and Parker Street. It has been built on the place which was home to buildings of entertainment like music hall theatres since the time of Queen Elizabeth. The West End London is an area of Central London. It is famous for its major tourist attractions which include theatres and government buildings. Since the New London Theatre is located at the West End, staying in and around West End helps visitors reach the theatre quickly and enjoy the wonderful plays like War Horse. There are a large number of hotels where one can afford to stay. The hotels have a lot of discounts going on now and then and always try to be tourist friendly. They try their best to provide luxury accommodation to their visitors. The Piccadilly hotel special offers include availability of free wifi, free breakfast, room service and fitness centre. There are restaurants within the hotels, bar/ lounge and also business centre. So, if one plans to stay at a place which is near the theatres, these hotels are best in that regard.

                The War Horse is a heart touching story of a boy who goes to find his beloved horse. Albert is a young child who loves his horse, Joey. When Joey is shipped off to the front lines, Albert is heart-broken. Unable to live without his friend, Joey goes on a journey to find his horse and bring him home. It is not that easy to stage a play like War Horse which needs horses and has the first World War as the backdrop. For that, moving images of horses, bullets, bomb firing are needed. However, the adroit theatre company managed to it with lots of hard work. Huge, gigantic puppets of horses were used which created a feeling of real living horses. The blasting of tanks was arranged too. One of the scenes which have won the hearts of hundreds of audience is a tank looming over the frightened horses. War Horse is produced by Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris. The props have been used in such a way that they deserve a huge appraisal. Some violent  charges of cavalry have been shown in the play. A bit of gruff humour dominates the play and apart from all these brutal scenes in the warfront, the water of human emotion soothes the dry grounds of the harsh reality. The scenes are so much heart- touching that the entire first –year classes in the audience and their teachers broke down into tears, unable to control themselves in refraining from getting attached to the characters. According to the National, this drama is for children above twelve years. However, children above ten years too can be taken to watch the play. Here, parental guidance is necessary. If parents are comfortable with their children getting upset after watching the play, then they take their children to see it.

                 Plays like War Horse touches hearts of people, locals as well as tourists. Such is the enigma and beauty of the play which makes even a tourist understands  the sentiments of the characters and it does not matter whether the tourist belongs to that culture or not. These theatres bring out the life of the people of London and are places where one must visit in London. The accommodations provided by the reputed hotels make the stay an enjoyable one.