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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Nay-sayers
be warned: ‘War Horse’ on tour is a wonderful ride<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns
= "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
o</I></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">n
4/12/13<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">It
is rare when a stage production features the euthanizing of a mortally wounded
puppet.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rarer still is when that
act generates an audible, heartfelt gasp from the audience, which it does during
the national tour of “War Horse” at PlayhouseSquare’s Palace
Theatre.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This 2011 Tony
Award-winning play (Best Play, Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting
Design, Best Sound Design) successfully turns Michael Morpurgo's children's
novel about a young man and his mount into a deeply moving, theatrically
innovative tale about the horrors of World War I. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: windowtext"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: windowtext"><FONT size=3>At the
outbreak of the war, Joey and more than a million other British horses are sold
to the cavalry and shipped to France to help fight the Germans.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>While all but 65,000 are cut down by
modern wartime technology, including Gatling guns and barbed wire, Joey is
caught behind enemy lines and separated from his cavalry unit.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Concerned, 16 year old Albert enlists
and embarks on a heroic mission to find his friend and bring him back to the
small family farm in Devon, England.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: windowtext"><BR><FONT
size=3>The previously</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3> mentioned gasp is but
one of many releases of raw emotion generated—no, purposefully, precisely and
painstakingly coerced—by playwright Nick Stafford and this production
company.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It does this by pushing
all the right buttons at all the right times.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>For instance, “War Horse”
lulls its audience into a state of complacency and emotional vulnerability by
unfolding as if we were children being told a bedtime story.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The play offers a gentle
narrator in the form of a roaming minstrel (John Milosich) and musician (Megan
Loomis), who add bits of sober, lyrical commentary through song while weaving in
and out of the action.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The passage
of time and the changing of location are creatively depicted as handwritten
drawings and simple animations that appear on an enormous, suspended page torn
from a book. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rae Smith’s bare,
minimalistic set design—embellished by Paule Constable’s dramatic lighting,
Christopher Shutt’s sound and Bihjan Shelbani’s sensitive direction—creates
dream-like impressions of the characters and the world in which they
live.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>These characters are
portrayed by a cast of very talented actors who seem to be living and breathing
this tale and, by doing so, suck the audience into their world for the duration
of the production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Particularly
strong performances are turned in by Alex Morf as young Albert, Lavita Shaurice
as Emilie, a little French girl who befriends Joey, and Cleveland’s own Andrew
May as the German officer who rescues Joey from imminent disaster.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Adding to the drama is a
huge ensemble that occasionally marches in place in unison, moves in slow motion
amidst mist and backlighting, and engages in harmonious, triumphant singing— all
of which are well-worn theatrical devices that serve to simmer, stir and then
boil emotions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And it all
works.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Of course, nothing is
better at tugging at the heartstrings than animals on stage which, in “War
Horse,” takes the form of marvelous, life-size horse puppets created by the
Handspring Puppet Company of Cape Town and choreographed by Toby Sedgwick.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each of these sophisticated, transparent
contraptions requires three perfectly coordinated puppeteers to fully replicate
the complex equine movement and expression of a real mare.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The illusion is so impressive that it is
captivating.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is so captivating
that by the time the “Old Yeller” moment surfaces, the audience is an emotional
and psychological train wreck.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Hence, the gasps at the
muppet mercy-killing.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Those who don’t like
sentimentality in their entertainment or who are self-conscious about emoting in
public are in for a very long evening.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>For others, “War Horse” is a technically amazing, thoroughly engaging,
emotional rollercoaster not to be missed.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“War
Horse” </SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">continues through
April 21 at PlayhouseSquare’s Palace Theatre.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $10 to
$110, visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#004276>www.playhousesquare.com</FONT></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>