Horses for courses – and the going’s good for a classic tale

With the recent success of Equus and War Horse, equine stage stories are hot news. Nick Ahad on another horse’s tale.

It’s easy to become cynical about theatre productions that are staged outdoors.

With sweeping landscapes and the novelty of watching a piece of theatre outside an auditorium, some companies might not feel the need to actually do very much to entrance their audiences.

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Not so for Peel, taking charge of staging the classic story of Black Beauty at Broughton Hall in Skipton.

“What really works is the fusion of the setting and the story, but it only works if you bring both those things together,” says Dr Christopher Ford, the man charged with directing the show for Keighley-based entertainment company Peel.

“It is a beautiful setting, this huge country estate, in which you can tell the story, but the audience really needs to see the emotional journey of the story if they are going to really buy into it.”

Peel previously staged A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Broughton Hall in 2006 and brings Black Beauty to life as part of the Broughton Open Air Festival, held at the hall this weekend.

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Ford is a writer and director who runs the York-based company Platform 4 Theatre and is used to performing in unusual spaces such as stately homes, museums and other venues outside of traditional theatre venues.

“We are blessed in Yorkshire with some wonderful venues where theatrical performances can take place.

“I find that when you perform in spaces where the audience are right there with you, then there is something special about all of you, performers and audience, being there in the space,” says Ford.

Anna Sewell’s novel has been adapted for performance by writer James Stone.

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The promenade performance begins, appropriately enough, in the stables of the stately home, before the audience is led around the grounds of the venue before ending up in the Walled Garden, where a stage has been erected.

Although audiences will have a chance to get up close and personal to horses in the stables, the production uses actors to tell the story, written by Sewell from the point of view of the horse.

“If you say to people that we use the same style as War Horse and Equus for the actors to tell the story of the animals, I think they understand,” says Ford.

“Clearly you can’t use actual animals in the production, but the success of those shows I think demonstrates that audiences understand the device and are willing to go along with it.

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“As long as you tell them a story and tell it well, of course.”

Black Beauty, Broughton Hall, July 15, 16, 17. Tickets at at www.blackbeautylive.com or 01756 796176.

Tale from the horse’s mouth

Published in 1877, author Anna Sewell died within a year of its publication.

She lived long enough to see the book become her biggest success.

It went on to sell over 50 million copies world wide, its story written to increase awareness of animal welfare and to campaign for the better treatment of horses.

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