On Friday 18th October Birmingham Hippodrome officially opened the UK & Ireland tour of National Theatre’s War House. BurnFM was lucky enough to have a Press Invitation to interview some of the cast, and the incredible Michael Morpurgo OBE (the author of War House). The Press afternoon also involved a scene from the production where the amazing life sized horse puppet charges across the stage.
War Horse is based on Morpurgo’s novel, which is written from the unbiased view of the horse. It is done in such a way to show the tragedies and challenges faced by both sides. The story follows the horse through the dangers of the trenches, and also the search by his owner to be reunited with him and bring him back to Britain.
During the afternoon we managed to get an interview with two Birmingham born and bread cast members, actor David Fleeshman and puppeteer John Leader. We asked them both about breaking into their careers, and what its like to be back in Brum performing. They gave us some great tips for any aspiring West End stars.
Michael Morpurgo was inspirational, again giving great tips for any aspiring writers. His interview finished with a really great sentiment about how far we have come since World War I as he was telling us how he was jetting off Saturday morning (after seeing the opening night in Birmingham) to see War House performed in Berlin.
It is definitely worth listening to, even if you only have time to listen to Morpurgo’s interview at the end. The podcast really has some great tips and inspiration to all you talented actors and writers at the uni.
