About the Production

and there were also some black soldiers DH: EVENTUALLY IT WENT INTO was the power of the story on stage. somehow follow a story without giggling. amongst them – most of these people REHEARSAL – QUITE SOME TIME That’s what I’m really looking forward Amazing achievement. When it comes to in Slapton had never seen black people LATER – WITH THE FINAL CAST… to seeing again at the Globe. And 946, you have to make this great leap into before. And many of these black soldiers MM: I then discovered that Emma what’s lovely about the Globe is that the story and take it for what it is. The made very strong relationships with had somehow picked out so many there isn’t a theatre in London more cat is a little puppet. The little girl is very English farming families. I thought all things that I remembered from akin to a tent in a Cornish field… evidently an actor in her thirties. Does it that was an interesting backdrop and I’d those early days in the converted matter? No, because she plays it with this focus on that. The story grew out of that. cattle-shed in Cornwall, and all DH: SO THE BOOK IS NOW A extraordinary sense of being a twelve-year- these things have been woven now PLAY. HOW DO YOU SEE THE old, and the joy is in that creation. There’s DH: WHAT WAS IT LIKE REVISITING into something which has got some DIFFERENCE OF THE IMAGINATIVE one particular moment where a grandma THE BOOK A DECADE ON? kind of cohesion. And bit by bit you EXPERIENCE OF A READER/ rides a motorbike. Well, I thought they MM: I suppose what I discovered pretty suddenly realised this cast, these AUDIENCE ENGAGING WITH THESE were going to get an old motorbike, and, quickly were its faults, what I could have people, each of them was taking hold TWO FORMS OF STORYTELLING? you know, roar around the stage – not done better. Two things really gave me of these characters and making them MM: For me, the purest form of, if you a bit of it, they get the handlebars of an a lot of encouragement though. First their own. And there was Emma, very like, ‘word communication’ is poetry, old something-or-other and make the of all, I realised as I was rereading it in quietly but massively enthusiastically because it leaves so much, so much, noises of a motorbike. That’s what I find preparation for working with Kneehigh conducting the whole thing. to the reader of the listener. Words wonderful about theatre: you make the leap. MAKING THE LEAP: that it had suddenly by accident become are scant, extraordinarily well-chosen much more relevant. Everyone in this By this time I was taking a back seat, and well-placed if it’s good, there story, everyone – the American, the just watching how this amazing lady is a music in it, there’s very often a Interview by Daniel Hahn. This interview first An Interview with 946 local population – is displaced, they’re puts a show together. Some of it I story in it, but the reader, the listener, appeared in issue 63 of Around the Globe, the membership magazine for Shakespeare's Globe. all basically refugees from their own thought was just completely crazy. brings to the poem a huge effort of & War Horse Writer places, and feeling alone and bereft and And part of it was because she brings imagination to bring it to life. Next under threat. So that somehow linked into it a huge amount of joy, through is the writing of novels, where again it up to today, and I therefore came to music and dance; that was already to you write the thing down on a piece it with renewed vigour, I would say. So I some extent there, but it’s very much of paper in your code, but the rest is MICHAEL wasn’t just rehashing an old idea, it was part of the show, so the exuberance left to the reader, to bring her or his something had become more real to me of these two black soldiers from imagination, intelligence, insight, life and I knew that it had a possibility of being America infects the whole family; and experience to what you’ve written. MORPURGO powerful on the stage because of that. there’s this teacher who’s a refugee It’s the deepest form of intellectual from Europe as well, so there’s this and emotional collaboration, I think. DH: YOU GOT BACK INTO THE MARROW most extraordinary gathering of When it comes to theatre, much more Michael Morpurgo talks to Daniel Hahn about the origins of The Amazing OF IT… lives, which she understood pretty is suggested, you are telling the story Story of Adolphus Tips and the process of turning a book for children into a MM: Exactly, rather than just tinkering it instinctively. But what she’s done now, not just in words, you are make- play for everyone. into a drama. And the other thing was this: is to widen it, and bring massive believing in characters on the stage I discovered I was working with I think the appeal to it across the generations. in costume with a set, everything DH: WHERE DID THE STORY was called Exercise Tiger. They were most collaborative people I’ve ever worked is there, if you like, but – and this OF 946 COME FROM? doing an exercise out in the Channel, with. I went down for a week to live with the DH: AND HOW DID is wonderful – you are still leaving MM: Like most if not all of my stories, it was huge: the soldiers would climb proposed cast of this play in the cottages AUDIENCES RESPOND? massive respect to the audience its roots are from historical events, down from their bigger boats onto where they do this sort of working-up time. MM: Down in Cornwall you know they to make of it what they will. So for from happenings. This one was the landing craft and then come in We – all of us, directed by Emma Rice have this huge tent, almost like a instance in War Horse, this puppet something I came across by complete onto the beach as they usually did, and Mike Shepherd – began to weave this circus tent – they call it the Asylum, was there – everyone could see it was accident, when I went down to a and always escorted with Royal Navy story together in little snippets. A song and there it is, in the middle of a a puppet, no question about it, there funeral in a place called Slapton in cruisers, destroyers, to be sure they here, an idea there. Hardly anything was Cornish field. It was a new show, you were three people working it. The south Devon. I discovered that in 1943 weren’t surprised. But there was a written down, but you’d be given tasks to don’t really expect lots of people to genius of the thing was that those this whole area had been evacuated cock-up, messages didn’t get there, do. I felt about twelve years old – it was turn up, but they did, it was simply puppets were made so extraordinarily, very speedily because the Americans and they had no cover, and by pure wonderful. So Emma would say, alright, packed for the entire month of August. the intensity and the integrity of were going to come and use that part happenstance the Germans sent out would you and Stu (the composer) go and I saw it in thunderstorms and I saw the whole thing was so strong that of the Devon coastline for practicing E-boats who came in and torpedoed write a song around this? See what you it on beautiful summer evenings, and the audience could not but imagine their Normandy landings. Then I them. 946 soldiers died in the waters can do… Suddenly I found myself at this you’d look around the five hundred this thing as a sentient creature. came across this remarkable story of the English Channel that night. ridiculously ancient age sitting in a shed or so people in this great circus tent of a farming family who were moving with a musician who had a guitar, singing and it was all generations; there DH: “THINK WHEN WE SPEAK OF out on the last day, and the little girl DH: IT’S ALSO A STORY ABOUT away, and I was making up this song – and were six and seven-year-olds, living HORSES THAT YOU SEE THEM…” – couldn’t find her cat; that evening the TWO CULTURES MEETING… it was all done in this terrific spirit of through great sadness and great joys THE GLOBE PARTICULARLY perimeter wire was going to be drawn MM: What was really evident spontaneity, we were responding to the and enjoying the exuberance of the RELISHES THOSE DEMANDS ON all around everything and they had to was the Americans made a huge story, chucking ideas back and forth. It whole thing and the fun of it – then THE AUDIENCES IMAGINATION. leave without it. So they went away impression on the local population. was really hard work – I don’t think I’d there were the parents, and there MM: And in the book the horse to a relative’s farm and spent the And they were so, so different ever worked so hard in my mind; and they were the grandparents. No matter speaks for goodness’ sake, he writes next ten months while the Americans from the British army people; they were all young, and I fed off their energy how much or how little the children the story – absurd! Equally absurd practiced their landings. But there played different music, they spoke and their enthusiasm for this new story. knew of the Second World War it to put a puppet on stage and have was this massive cock-up, this differently, they were sort of very didn’t matter, what really mattered intelligent people look at it and tragedy, which war is made up of. It friendly, very warm, immediate;