Michael Morpurgo interview: ‘I thought turning my book War Horse into a stage play with puppets was ridiculous’

The former Children’s Laureate talks to Matilda Battersby about his friendship with Ted Hughes, the actor he never was and his passion for the stage

The writer thought it was madness to try and make a play out of his bestselling 1982 novel

Michael Morpurgo thought “they must be mad” to try and make a play out of his bestselling 1982 novel War Horse. He also deemed the idea of using puppets as horses as “ridiculous”. But it has been the National Theatre’s most-successful production of this century, transferring to the West End and running for more than 3,000 performances. Not to mention being turned into a film by Steven Spielberg starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

But the latest iteration of Morpurgo’s most famous tale will come from the author’s very own lips as he takes to the stage at the Albert Hall to tell the story of a Devonshire lad and his horse with the help of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and animations by Rae Smith in War Horse: The Story in Concert.

“It’s really exciting, it doesn’t happen everyday to be able to tell one’s stories,” says the former Children’s Laureate, 73. “It is rather wonderful. I’ve been doing it with a good friend, Joanna Lumley, who I’ve been on conference platforms with before, so it’s a real joy. What more could a fellow want?”

The ‘War Horse’ play was groundbreaking in its use of stage puppets as horses

Despite his global success (War Horse is currently touring in China and has graced stages in Australia, Canada, USA, South Africa and Europe) and the three decades which have elapsed since he became a bestselling author, Morpurgo gives the impression he is still bowled over by the life opportunities his work has delivered him.

“I come from a family of actors. My mum was an actor, my dad was an actor, and I should have been. If I’d picked up the thread earlier on I would have been George Clooney, no problem," he says jokily. “But it didn’t happen, I did other things. But it’s really lovely to discover later in life.”

“I’ve always loved storytelling. When I was a teacher I always loved telling stories to children and that’s acting, to an extent. I acted the characters to make them believable. But it’s only in the last ten to fifteen years that I’ve been able to get up on stage or conference platforms and take part in theatre – which has been a real joy.”

It was teaching that led Morpurgo to write. His wife, Clare Lane, also a teacher, founded the charity Farms for City Children in 1976, which invites inner-city kids to live and work on farms for a week, and the couple moved from Kent to Nethercott, North Devon to run it. Here Morpurgo began to witness the intense relationships that can form between young people and animals, sparking the seed for War Horse which was published in 1982.

The ‘War Horse’ film is based on the National Theatre play and was directed by Steven Spielberg (AP)

But while it is the best known of the more than 100 books Morpurgo has written, War Horse didn’t come easily to the author. But luckily he had a neighbour with the experience to help him out: the poet Ted Hughes, whom Morpurgo met by accident while out for a walk one day as Hughes lived about five miles away from Nethercott.

“Hughes was an extraordinary writer. And I got stuck at one point, I think I was writing War Horse actually, in the early 1980s. He wasn’t initially all that kind. He said maybe you shouldn’t start writing it so quickly,” says Morpurgo.

“And I said no, no I’ve got to get on with it. But he said no, you’ve got to spend more time dreaming it, thinking about it, letting it run through your head than you ever should writing it. He said this is not because you can’t write it now but to write it really well you’ve got to let yourself really get to know the landscape of the story. And that takes time.”

Hughes advised him to develop a technique which Morpurgo calls “dream time”. Which is essentially going back to bed, thinking about the characters he’s developing, and seeing where his subconscious takes them. “Go into your dream time. Stop sitting here looking at a piece of paper,” Hughes told Morpurgo. And the resulting novel is a credit to the technique.

Ted Hughes helped Morpurgo when he got stuck while writing ‘War Horse’

When Morpurgo was initially approached by the National Theatre he wasn’t sure about turning War Horse into a stage play with puppets. “I thought it was ridiculous. I’d seen The Lion King and I could quite see those kinds of puppets were one thing. But when you’re talking about the First World War and trying to tell a story which at its heart is very sad, I did not see how it could work. Even during work-shopping for it I wasn’t convinced. It was only when I first came to see it on stage that I realised it was genius.”

"It’s what should happen in theatre. It’s not one of those formulaic things that just gets churned out without thinking of the story filling people’s hearts and taking risks. The National Theatre is a wonderful thing.”

‘War Horse: The Story in Concert’ will be performed at the Royal Albert Hall on 27 October