Angela Reed and Mat Hostetler have had to amend the well-known theater adage about acting with kids and animals.
The traditional stage wisdom, first attributed to W.C. Fields, is pretty simple. Never act with small children or animals. They steal the spotlight; they leave grown-up human actors in the background. Reed and Hostetler, actors from Colorado who are both starring in the touring production of the Broadway drama “War Horse,” have learned that life-sized puppets that weigh 120 pounds have the same effect.
“They’re going to steal the show every time you’re on stage with them,” said Reed, who grew up in Parker and now lives in New York. “That’s the challenge, to make sure that the audience is hearing the story clearly and not keeping all of the focus on the beautiful animals in the show.”
It’s not surprising that Reed, Hostetler and the rest of the cast refer to the intricate puppets in “War Horse” as “animals.” The crew at the Handspring Puppet Company did a lot of work to make the “War Horse” puppets as lifelike as possible. For example, Joey, the central horse of the show, weighs 140 pounds, stands 8 feet tall and stretches 10 feet across. Joey has 20 major joints and requires three full-time puppeteers — one controls the head, another the hind and a final operator guides the chest, or heart, of the puppet animal.
Want a peek at how the puppets look and act? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwu_d0xRhdI
That kind of attention to detail helps give energy and life to a show set in another era. At its heart, the drama is rooted in the relationship between Joey and Albert Narracott, a boy growing up in the rural English town of Devon at the outset of World War I. On a deeper level, however, the show is about the historic and horrific nature of the war itself. The story includes unflinching views of the world’s first industrialized war. Traditional cavalry forces enter battlefields with tanks and mustard gas; the technological innovations of the early 20th century made for a battle that claimed about one-third of France’s men aged 18 to 35.
The play’s use of life-like puppets helps fully convey that scope. The illusion is complete mere moments into the production of “War Horse,” playing at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts until Jan. 20. It’s easy to look past the puppeteers, the Georgette fabric, the fiberglass and the Tyvek plastic. The animals take on a life of their own, for audience and actors alike.
“Calling them puppets seems inadequate. We’re talking about life-sized horses that are ridden upon. They’re beautiful,” said Reed, who has starred in productions of “The Whale” and “Spring Awakening” at the Denver Center. “I don’t think it’s any different than dealing with another living being … I interact with him as if he were a real animal.”
That dynamic between actor and animal isn’t accidental. From the very first rehearsals for the touring production of the show, the actors treated the puppets as living animals. There is no direct dialogue with the puppeteers when they’re operating the animals. The actors address Joey and the other horses in the show as full-grown animals.
“Very early on in the rehearsal process, we were asked to always refer to Joey as Joey. We don’t talk to the puppeteers when they’re ‘in-horse,’” said Hostetler, who grew up in Glenwood Springs and attended the Denver Center Theatre Academy. Hostetler plays an English veterinary officer in the show. “That’s a very important aspect of it. It could seem a little silly at the outset, but the first step of the audience believing it’s a horse is us believing it’s a horse.”
That approach is also valuable for the puppeteers. It helps keep up focus and maintain the collaboration between three different puppeteers. It also helps keep up a sense of character.
“He’s an animal. He doesn’t exhibit any anthropomorphic or human qualities,” said Jessica Krueger, who operates the hind section of the puppet. “He doesn’t sing, he doesn’t dance. He’s just an animal on stage.”
Three teams of three puppeteers take turns operating the adult version of Joey, split shifts that come partly because of the strain of carrying the puppet’s 140 pounds. Each puppeteer is focused on their own part of the massive machine, and each has built up a very particular specialty.
“This style of puppetry that we’re doing is a combination of highly physical movement and a style where each of us becomes learned on our part of the horse,” said Jon Riddleberger, who operates the head section of the puppet. “I would be terrible if I stepped in any of the other parts. That’s not how I think about the horse or the character.”
The actors insist that the dedication to character creates a unique kind of dynamic on stage. Working with the different teams of puppeteers is like working with different actors every night, they said. Interacting with Joey in the drama’s most momentous moments has put their craft to the test. Such moments aren’t easy to come by as artists, and they make up for the consistent scene stealing.
“Fortunately, in this case, our animals are portrayed by adults. They have the generosity to know when to hold off a bit,” Reed said. Specifically, she mentioned an expressive goose puppet that can steal a scene with little effort. “He gets all the laughs. Quite honestly, those puppeteers really do have a challenge of either stealing the scene or generously allowing the scene to play out.”
Judging by the applause the goose and the rest of the puppets received on opening night in Denver, it’s a fine balancing act.
“War Horse” plays until Jan. 20 at the Buell Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St., Denver. Tickets start at $25. Information: 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707
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