War Horse

We had to make a good start today - away by half last nine as we were meeting up with the three grand daughters in Oxford to go to the matinee performance of War Horse - Andrew was also coming up from Devizes to join the party.

The two from Windsor were arriving at 10:43 on a train from Taplow, changing at Reading. The oldest, Ellie was already in Oxford as she arrived yesterday to stay for a few days with her Dad. Andrew was driving but coming into the city centre by Park and Ride bus.

We checked out the station in Banbury - specifically the parking. Mike has been through Banbury on a number of occasions as part of a car shuffle but we have not had to park here before. In any case, the older surface car parks at the main station entrance are no longer in use for general public but a large multi storey has been built on the opposite side. We planned to catch the 10:17 arriving at 10:10.

Until yesterday we had been expecting to have a meal with everyone after the performance but various logistical factors meant that the three girls had to leave after the finish of the play at 5 pm. A quick re-plan and Christine booked a table at what seemed an interesting small cafe/restaurant close to the station, with a Moroccan flavour.

All the journeys went to plan and we met without a hitch in the station concourse. We had a little time before the noon booking - Ellie suggested a quick trip to the Ashmolean, not far away. The girls visited the mummy gallery (!) whilst we to sit in the basement cafe - Andrew took a look around the main shopping streets.

We met up at the Olive Branch and were greeted by the owner who happily re-arranged the furniture to accommodate six. It is not a large place, originally part of what was once a Railway Hotel. Old photos of trains and stations featured in the decor along with some collages of tickets.

We managed to make our choices from the menu without a lot of difficulty - we went for the lamb tagine. Service was excellent as was the food and we were all well pleased.

By the time we had finished and paid up it was time to walk - slowly - to the New Theatre, only 8 minutes according to Google Maps but we sauntered a little slower. The theatre asks the audience to arrive by 2, for a 2:30 performance just as well most of us kept to the request as there were few empty seats - inevitably there were the stragglers that insisted in  making their way in with seconds to go, looking as if they had all the time in the world . . . 

The performance was from a new touring production by the National Theatre. The tour began in September and goes on until next ¬October, all over the country.

The production has, as might be expected from the NT, amazing production values with a cast of over 40, inclusion the incredible puppeteers who bring the horses to life in a really believable way. The back of the stage displayed what looked like a torn sheet of paper on which were projected images, back and white sketches and animations all of which were effective in helping to make the action seem real.

The stage version of Michael Morpurgo's novel is more condensed than we recall of the film but this allows it to use all the arts of the stage to be amazingly immersive. Most especially, the latter part set in the disastrous Somme battlefield permeates the whole body for those watching. In particular, the scene where Joey, the horse around which the story is woven, is caught in barbed wire defences in No Man's Land and then freed by men from both sides, could not be told more effectively.

We had to go our separate ways at the end, doing so inside the theatre rather than risk the melee outside in the street. We walked back to the station where we had about half an hour to wait for the next train to Banbury - we managed to get seats but the carriages were almost full.

Back at Banbury we retrieved our car and drove the short distance to the marina after a quite successful outing.