Preview: War Horse, National Theatre: Olivier, London

War's unsung heroes are brought to life

With arresting life-sized puppets and a full musical score, Tom Morris's and Marianne Elliott's War Horse, presented in association with the South Africa-based Handspring Puppet Company, explores the "untold story" of the many animals whose role in the First World War is so often overlooked. The production juxtaposes human actors with their puppet counterparts, using a backing video screen to display further images to support the story.

Nick Stafford's stage adaptation, based on the former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo's novel of the same name, is set during the Great War and focuses on the deep affection between a farm boy and his horse. But while Stafford follows the architecture of the novel, he stresses that a "major artistic decision was taken very early on" to lessen the anthropomorphism that features so prominently in the novel.

"What the book and the play do have in common," explains Stafford, "is a sense of innocence – Joey never becomes cynical. Horses don't have objectives as such, and they don't conspire or make weapons; you look at how a horse behaves, and it throws into relief how humans behave.

"Joey experiences both sides, and behaves exactly the same with Germans as with the British – he takes people as he finds them."

Stafford is aware of the obstacles to be overcome when using puppetry, how adults "think that it's only for children". Yet the war setting dictates that "you can't be frivolous. Something happens when puppets are on stage, everything they do is very deliberate, which reminds us of the fundamental way that we are, of our basic movements and basic needs. Puppets add a spiritual quality that is nearly impossible to put into words."

The National's new epic uses puppets made from cane and covered in translucent fabric. For Stafford, being able to see the operation of the puppets is vital: "Without being distracting, it is an integral part of the show. We're not hiding how we are telling the story."

9 October to 12 January 2008 (020-7452 3000)