THE good news is, for anyone who has not yet seen the phenomenal National Theatre production of War Horse that opened at the Bristol Hippodrome on Wednesday and runs until Valentine’s Day, there are still tickets available but they are selling fast.

And no wonder.

The puppetry that has had audiences entranced across the world since the first stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel nine years ago is truly sensational and there is no disputing that the incredible horse puppets are the shining stars of the show.

The play opens at the start of 1912 with a foal being born on a farm in Devon. With the appearance of the foal puppet the audience is given a tantalising appetiser of the adult horses to follow.

The foal is taken to market later that year and bought, in a state of drunkenness, by an impoverished farmer using his mortgage money, much to the distress of the put-upon farmer’s wife.

The couple’s son, Albert (Lee Armstrong) soon forms an unbreakable bond with the young horse, Joey, and when in 1914 Joey is sold by the farmer as a cavalry officer’s mount and taken to France to fight The Hun Albert enlists, determined to be reunited with his equine companion.

For those who haven’t seen the film, play or read the book I won’t spoil the ending but you can probably guess the outcome. The tale is emotionally draining and by the interval the audience was hurtling headlong for the bar to revive their ragged spirits.

The horrors of the First World War, with foot soldiers and cavalry on both sides facing the merciless onslaught of machine guns and the barbarity of barbed wire, are starkly portrayed.

For an essentially dark play, War Horse is surprisingly uplifting, with many moments of courage and compassion to lighten the mood.

The acting from the whole company is excellent and the singing superb but it is the puppetry from members of the Handspring Puppet Company that truly astonishes.

It takes three people to manipulate each of the incredibly intricate horse models and these people are conspicuously on view, yet after a few moments the puppeteers become invisible, belief is suspended and it is real horses that the audience sees, so vivid is the mimicking of horse behaviour.

I was not much moved by the film, although it is certainly worth seeing, but Nick Stafford’s adaption for the stage is so much more engaging and takes the tale to an entirely different dimension.

It was an extraordinary experience that I will almost certainly remember for the rest of my days.

If you are not lucky enough to secure yourself a ticket for the Bristol Hippodrome, War Horse is playing at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane until October. It is also playing in Holland and South Africa if you fancy a trip overseas. It will be worth it.

Skip Walker