War Horse in Berlin: behind the scenes

A new production of the National Theatre's War Horse

in Berlin marks the first time the First World War
has been discussed on German stages
War Horse in Berlin: Heinz Hoenig and Philipp Lind who star in the German
production of the National Theatre play now called Gefahrten Photo: Eentpress !ad"e
By #ominic $aendish
%:&'P( B)T *' +ct ,*&'
- $omments
.n a ast warehouse space in the north of Berlin/ 0oey/ (ichael (orpurgo1s world2
famous 3war horse4/ is 5eing ta"en for a test2canter 5y three puppeteers6 He trots up and
down 5ehind a long row of ta5les at which creatie personnel are clustered/ while in
front of them director Polly 7indlay amia5ly tries to get across to her small army of
German actors 8ust how much we Brits loe our tea6
3Thin" of the thing that ma"es you really happy/4 she says6 37or us that1s tea94 The
reason she needs to remind them of our indestructi5le institution: Well there1s a line in
the 5ig recruitment scene they1re rehearsing/ recapturing all the gung2ho/ caalier
innocence at the start of the Great War/ in which the assem5led #eonshire illagers are
gien the rousing assurance that they1ll drie the ;aiser through Belgium and 5e home
3in time for tea46 3We need to get the full swing of that sentence/4 7indlay points out to
me6 3.t1s harder in the German ersion64
While praising the 3em5arrassingly good English4 spo"en 5y the %,2strong company/
3the tea has 5een a running 8o"e/4 she later e<plains6 3When we say 3tea 5rea"94/ no one
here understands what on earth you1re tal"ing a5out6 There are lots of idiosyncrasies
li"e that which ta"e more e<plaining than you1d thin"64
$onfident and articulate/ 7indlay doesn1t seem remotely fazed 5y the huge
responsi5ilities resting on her young ='*2year2old> shoulders6 7irstly/ she is haing to
gie the National1s glo5e2trotting hit =already widely seen in $anada/ ?merica and
?ustralia> its first foreign language outing @ significantly/ the first time this has 5een
done with any production in the -*2year history of the theatre
)econdly she1s the linchpin 5etween the National and the international group )tage
Entertainment @ ma"ing its first foray away from musicals in the palatial &%**2seater
Theater des Westens =Berlin1s eAuialent to the Palladium> and ta"ing the epic financial
ris" in a theatre scene not used to colla5oration 5etween the commercial and su5sidised
sectors6
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Thirdly/ and a5oe all/ she "nows this production will mean a 5ig/ sym5olic deal @ not
only to (orpurgo/ whose cherished dream it has 5een to see the show running in the
capital cities of Western Europe1s two principal former adersaries/ 5ut also Auite
possi5ly to the whole German nation/ as the important WW& centenary year approaches6
To put this premiere in conte<t/ Gefahrten @ as the show has 5een renamed/ in line with
the "pielberg film/ translating roughly as 3$omrades4 @ will 5e the first nota5le play to
5roach 3the war to end all wars4 that audiences here hae seen6
.n a country that has no remem5rance day for its war dead/ and which has 5een
consumed 5y collectie guilt oer its past actions/ the 7irst World War has 5een a
theatrical no2man1s land until now6 ?s the playwright 0ohn on #uffel/ who has scripted
this ersion/ e<plains: 3. can1t remem5er seeing any play dealing with this su58ect on
stage6 We hae a 5ig tradition of dealing with the guilt of the )econd World War @ there
are many plays a5out that6 But it1s almost impossi5le to find one dealing with the 7irst
World War6 .t1s the war no5ody eer tal"s a5out64
Why is that: 3We always pro8ected the guilt issue surrounding the )econd World War
onto the 7irst/4 he continues/ 3and it wasn1t possi5le to discuss it without considering
what happened later6 We would neer hae 5een in a position to tell a story li"e War
Horse6 The possi5ility of tal"ing a5out the war of &E&%2&B as a historical eent in its
own right only 5ecame possi5le as recently as a couple of years ago . would say64
Een the muster2scene .1e 8ust witnessed 5eing assem5led in painsta"ing detail @ it
seemingly ta"es 7indlay and co half an hour to adance a mere three minutes of stage2
time @ acAuires a different/ controersial flaour 5y 5eing presented in Berlin6 ?s
7indlay/ who wor"ed as an assistant director on the original production in ,**C/
e<plains: 3? British audience responds to that scene as a positie eent @ for a German
audience it will press a different set of 5uttons64 Fon #uffel agrees: 3Here we hae a
pu5lic that1s almost trained to regard the military as a pro5lem @ you would neer
identify with a soldier64 ?t the same time a German audience is 5eing confronted with
an up5eat military occasion/ it also has to come face2to2face with its own nation 5eing
depicted as the 5ig threat to our eAuine hero 0oey and ?l5ert/ the doting lad who enlists
to try and trac" him down on the Western 7ront6
3What . found strange a5out reading that play as a German is that . identified with the
community in that #eon illage/4 Fon #uffel continues6 3?nd then out of the 5lue .1m
the enemy of those . felt were my friends and they1re saying: 3Let1s go and "ill the
Germans946 . don1t Auite "now how a German audience will react to that64
Perhaps his most stri"ing contri5ution has 5een to modify/ with due agreement on all
releant sides/ two of the main German characters 0oey encounters once he is captured
and set to wor" on the other side of the Trenches6 3The weird thing . felt a5out the
second half in the London production was that the characters of 7riedrich and ;lausen @
who are in a position to 5ecome the new friends of the audience @ are clearly outlined as
war enemies6 . had a strong sense that no5ody would 5uy that oer here6 They had to 5e
made more credi5le/4 he says6 37riedrich/ who1s a horse2loer/ now coneys that on the
German side many people were misled at the 5eginning @ and een ;lausen/ who can 5e
monstrous/ is more multi2dimensional64
Will German audiences reach out and 5ecome 3comrades4 to this production: Philipp
Lind/ who plays young ?l5ert/ is cautious in his optimism6 3. thin" German audiences
are ery sceptical in general/4 he says with a grin6 3. thin" they come in and go 3.s this
een going to amuse me:446 )tage Entertainment1s producer )imone Linhof/ who has
5attled hard for two years to 5ring eerything together/ is loo"ing on the 5right side: 3.f
we can persuade people to come/ . thin" they will 5e delighted 5y what they see6 The
show is uniAue/ the story is uniersal and the puppetry will 5e a 5ig surprise64
?lthough confident the show will 5e a commercial success/ paing the way for plans to
mount productions in ?msterdam and Paris/ in a sense they1re putting the spirit of
(orpurgo1s classic @ descri5ed as 3the greatest anthem to peace eer performed4 @
5efore the mud/ sweat and tears of chasing 5o<2office ictory6 3We hope to ma"e
money/4 she says 35ecause we1re not su5sidised @ 5ut we loe this piece so much/ it
almost feels li"e an educational and political tas" as much as an artistic one6 We 8ust
had to 5ring it to Berlin6 .t felt ital we too" this ris"64