A truly iconic show based on a book written by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse was only designed to run for a couple of weeks . . . then they did it again and again and again and it's currently in its seventh successful year on the West End in London. The journey has seen the horses redesigned - the life-sized puppets were created and built in Cape Town by Handspring Puppet Company - and the early days saw performers receiving hours of physio every day. As the show was very physical on performers, more actors were brought in to take shifts.
In South Africa, Gearhouse Splitbeam, was appointed Technical Supplier. "When we were first asked to quote on War Horse we were asked if we could supply the full rig as per spec," commented Splitbeam's Alistair Kilbee. "I had to inform them that some items like the VL500ARC, DHA ROSCO 6 lamp DLC, VL3500 Wash, TW1s and ETC Revolutions were not available in South Africa in the quantities needed." Kilbee recommended substitutions for some of the equipment on the original design, to the Associate Lighting Designer, who was working closely with the show's lighting designer Paule Constable.
Robe Pointes were chosen as a replacement for some of the VL500ARC and Robe 2500 Wash replaced the VL3500 Washes. "Even though they are not the same type of fixtures the designer felt they would do the job needed for the South African production," said Kilbee. "The other Moving lights were flown in from the UK tour, but we did manage to reduce the amount of airfreight with the substitutions."
What sets War Horse apart is that it does not rely on high-tech equipment. There are "a heck of a lot of par cans". The scenes and sets are unpretentious and everything has been done to enhance the performance of the puppets. "The thing I found so interesting about this production was the use of tungsten and discharge fixtures, there is a very clever use of the two different light sources which differentiate between the battle scenes and other scenes," explained Kilbee. "The tungsten lights, ETC Revolutions, TW1s and generics give a nice warm light which is perfect for the feel of the show. Then the discharge gives a cold blue feel to the battle scenes."
Four Avolites ART2000 48-way and one Avolites 12-way 5K TV dimmer are used for dimming in this production. "The Art 2000s are a world leader in touring dimmers and have proved to be very reliable, over the years - the Avolites 5kW dimmer are well over 15 years old and still working fine - proof of their reliability," he said.
South African supplier DWR Distribution assisted Splitbeam with the MDG flying brackets and par can double yoke modifications to strengthen them sufficiently to take colour scrollers securely without dipping. "DWR and Splitbeam are making a habit out of making custom stuff . . . for the MDG's on Jersey Boys I asked DWR to make me long high pressure hoses so that we could rig the MDG's up on a truss and keep the CO2 cylinders on the ground. This worked like a charm, so when I was asked for flying brackets for the MDG's on War Horse I knew DWR had to make them - which they did - and with the long CO2 hoses. This makes them the best and most useful MDG's I have ever seen; they can go almost anywhere and you get the haze you want without any problems or safety issues."
While scroller par cans with double yokes may be a standard unit in most of the world, they are old school and are being used less and less. "These are not available in South Africa so I wanted to make them instead of importing 90 par cans with double yokes into the country," said Kilbe
