Here is the second of our series of interviews for the National Theatre’s touring production of War Horse coming to the Sydney Lyric Theatre in February. Our second chat is with director, Gareth Aled. Some of the questions were sent in by our readers, I have acknowledge them when used.
How do the puppeteers communicate to ensure their movements are coordinated?
[Question sent in by Elisha]
Our puppeteers are in close and direct contact with the puppet and using principals and techniques they bring the puppet to life. The first principal being focus. Humans and animals are so observant to eye-line, if our puppeteers focus on the puppet directly you the audience are encouraged to look at the puppet. Simple and yet incredibly powerful. The second principal is Breath. All our puppets breathe. If something is breathing it conveys life and the rhythm of that breath will suggest thought and emotion. A third principal is muscularity and weight. Joey is made out of cane, mesh, leather, aluminium, steel all of which have a very different relationship to gravity compared to the weight of a real “half thoroughbred, half draft” adult horse. Convincing you the audience of muscle, weight and power is a constant challenge.
It takes three puppeteers to operate Joey: a Head, Heart and Hind. They each have a technical task and an emotional indicator.
Technically the Head puppeteer maintains the head height and eye-line of the horse, emotionally they operate the ears via bicycle break leavers. If the ears both pin back it suggests fear, discomfort, agitation. If they soften forward and the head lowers it could convey curiosity, passiveness or relaxation.
Each time the Heart puppeteer moves they have the technical responsibility of engaging a trigger which articulates the knee joint and curls the hoof. Emotionally when the puppeteer bends his/her knees the horse breathes – our most important emotional indicator.
Finally the hind puppeteer, technically they maintain the gait of the horse. Our horses participate in cavalry charges and therefore are required to walk, trot and gallop. All three of which have a specific rhythmic pattern. Emotionally they use by bicycle break leavers to operate the tail.
These three puppeteers coordinate and communicate through a shared breath. An incredible act of trust and team work.
With so many horses, how do you make sure that each horse has their own distinct character/mannerism?
[Question sent in by Sevasti]
Each horse is puppeteered by a team of three puppeteers and so each horse naturally has a different personality. They can’t go completely rogue and go for a trot around the stage at any moment, but we train our puppeteers to operate and live and breathe like a real horse, so there’s a level of improvisation that takes place. This isn’t Pixar or Disney; in our story these animals are behaving realistically. They don’t understand English, French or German, they respond to tone and intonation.
How is the sound of the horse created? Is it one puppeteer or multiple voices? Is the sound amplified?
[Question sent in by Elisha]
The puppeteers make the horse noises themselves, working together to create one realistic sound. A horse’s lung capacity is the same as three humans, so the sound level is also accurate, although during the show all the puppeteers are mic’d.
How heavy are the horse costumes?
[Question sent in by Sharon]
Joey weighs about 30 kilograms, the weight of which is split between the puppeteers. This weight is then doubled during moments when they take a rider in the show.
What is the most valuable piece of advice that you have been given?
“Gareth, you’re never the finished article”
A family friend, who is very successful in his work, gave me this advice just as I graduated from drama school and moved to London. A difficult and exciting time filled with stress, financial insecurity but with thrilling possibility.
Being a freelancer in the arts is difficult and certainly has its ups and downs. It is important, I think, to stay curious, honest, driven and open to new learning.
Who has inspired you the most personally or professionally?
My brother. A session musician and composer. Fiercely talented, relentlessly driven, confident, dedicated but at the same time, kind and generous.
What do you love the most about what you do?
I love physical, ensemble storytelling. This is always at the core of my work both as an actor and director.
A hobby you have beyond the theatre?
I love cycling and have been lucky enough to cycle around some of beautiful Melbourne whilst here.
If you could send out a tweet that would reach the entire world, what would it say?
We’re in this together.
Thanks to Zoe, Scott and Gareth for your time chatting with us. And thanks to all our readers who sent i questions. We wish we could have used them all but they would be still answering questions after opening night. Congratulations to Elisha for winning the competition for best questions. Hope you all get along to see this incredible production.
Follow the link below for our interview with Scott Miller
https://onthetown.net.au/demo_new/a-chat-about-warhorse-with-scott-miller/
15 Feb – 15 Mar 2020
Venue: Sydney Lyric Theatre
Theatre Company: National Theatre Of Great Britian
Duration: Aprox. 2 Hours and 40 minutes
From $79.90 (Transaction fees apply)
Wed – Sat 7:30pm
Sun 6pm
Matinees:
Wed 1pm
Sat 2pm
Sun 3pm
