WAR HORSE to Launch New UK Tour at The Marlowe Theatre Next Autumn

The Marlowe Theatre has been chosen as the launch venue for a major new UK tour of WAR HORSE.

The National Theatre's acclaimed production will be rehearsed in Canterbury before it opens there on 15 September 2017, where it will run until 14 October 2017. Tickets go on sale to Marlowe Friends on Thursday 21 January 2106 and the public on Monday 8 February 2016.

Since opening in October 2011, The Marlowe has hosted the National Theatre's People, One Man, Two Guvnors, and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Theatre Director Mark Everett believes it is the success of these visits that made the National pick Canterbury to launch the tour.

"This is a huge honour for us all at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury and Kent", Mark said. "Because the tour starts at The Marlowe, it will also be rehearsed here, which adds a whole new dimension as most shows we present are made elsewhere.

"Attracting National Theatre productions was one of our key ambitions when the new Marlowe Theatre was being planned and built. I am absolutely delighted that we have managed to secure WAR HORSE for our audiences. This stunning and ground-breaking production really is the icing on the cake."

The tour of WAR HORSE coincides with the Centenary commemorations of the end of the First World War. War Horse, which has been seen by more than seven million people worldwide, completes its record-breaking eight-year London run at the New London Theatre on 12 March 2016. It has won 25 awards, including the Tony Award for Best Play on Broadway.

Nick Stafford's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's remarkable story of courage, loyalty, and friendship, about a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War, is the most successful play in the National Theatre's history. It features ground-breaking puppetry work by South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company, which brings breathing, galloping horses to live on stage.

WAR HORSE received its world premiere on 9 October 2007 at the National Theatre, where it played for two seasons before opening at the New London Theatre in March 2009. Since then, WAR HORSE has been seen in 97 cities in 10 countries, including productions on Broadway, in Toronto and Berlin, with touring productions in the UK and Ireland, North America, the Netherlands and Belgium. A Chinese-language production opened in Beijing last year, and is currently running in Shanghai.

Michael Morpurgo said: "After a few months rest, out at pasture, Joey, the War Horse and his great team from the National Theatre, will be touring the UK again, from 2017 through to 2018 and the centenary of the end of the First World War, taking their show all over the country, to towns and cities, many of them places War Horse has not been seen before. I am so pleased this is happening; that so many more people will have the chance to enjoy this unique theatrical event. Steady boy, steady Joey. Trot on!"

WAR HORSE is directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, designed by Rae Smith, with puppet direction, design and fabrication by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company, lighting by Paule Constable, and movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick, with video design by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for 59 Productions, songmaker John Tams, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Christopher Shutt.

WAR HORSE is produced on tour by the National Theatre.

Tickets for WAR HORSE at The Marlowe Theatre are priced from £18 to £59.50 (concessions available, booking fee applies) and are available from the Box Office on 01227 787787, or marlowetheatre.com. To become a Marlowe Friend and get priority booking, call the Box Office or go online.

Photo Credit: Brinkhoff Mögenburg

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