WEEKEND went behind the scenes to meet the team behind a worldwide theatre phenomenon seen by more than seven million people.

A puppetry demonstration was held at the Empire Theatre to celebrate War Horse’s first run – or gallop – in Liverpool in November.

We were among a small audience who were exclusively invited to see the life-sized puppet Joey up close and learn about how the show came to life before it launched at the National Theatre in 2007.

Matthew Forbes, War Horse’s assistant puppetry director, said: “I joined War Horse six months after it went into the West End and I was with it for three years. I was in more than 1,000 performances playing to more than 1,000 people every night.

“It was brilliant being in the show. I started off as baby Joey’s heart, I then went on to become large Joey’s hind. I then spent 18 months on the head of Joey.

“Joey is a fantastic puppet. He’s actually been introduced to more heads of state, members of the royal family and celebrities than most Hollywood stars. He’s very well-travelled but he’s not been to Liverpool so we’re going to change that and we’re really excited to be bringing him here.”

Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse was originally released as a novel in 1982 but was not was not very well known at the time. That all changed thanks to a performance of Handspring Puppet Company’s Tall Horse – and a tip theatre director Tom Morris was given by his mum.

Tall Horse is a story about a giraffe caught in southern Sudan by the Viceroy of Egypt which was presented as a gift for the King of France in 1827. It features a baby giraffe operated by two puppeteers on stilts.

Matthew added: “It was a really beautiful show and it was seen by Tom Morris, one of the original directors of War Horse. He absolutely loved the show, he loved how Handspring were creating theatre but he didn’t have any material.

“Cue Tom’s mum. She suggested to Tom that he read a book by Michael Morpurgo. At the time the book had not been read by that many people but Tom read it and fell in love with the story and all the characters.”

That was how the idea for a stage production took shape but the puppet of Joey was actually more influenced by a hyena. The team at Handspring looked back at a puppet with moveable joints they had made for Faustus in Africa.

“That hyena is basically the inspiration for Joey,” said Matthew.

“The way it was built influenced the design and build for Joey, including how the joints moved and the rendering of the body.”

The next challenge was to make Joey strong enough to support a rider while not hindering his three puppeteers. Designs have come a long way since two puppeteers tested out the possibilities of this by wearing backpacks attached to a ladder with someone sitting in the middle.

Matthew said: “We quickly discovered during workshops that we needed something that was light so the puppeteers could operate it and make it work. But we also needed something strong and sturdy enough to support a rider.”

During War Horse the longest time that a rider is on the eight stone puppet is 11 minutes.

Michael Taibi, who operates Joey’s ‘heart’, added: “It is quite a long time to bear that weight and in that particular scene we’re pausing at certain bits. It feels like a backpack. Imagine if someone was sitting on that backpack and hanging off it. That’s what it’s like.”

Joey’s expressions were also key so the audience can suspend their disbelief.

Matthew said: “The head and eyes is where we really read the story as an audience so we quickly realised we needed a head puppeteer to give clues to what Joey was thinking, feeling and looking at.”

That started out as just a pole attached to the top of Joey’s head. Now attached to the pole are a series of levers and triggers which give Joey all his expressions and move everything from his ears to his chin. The cast even worked with The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Horses Trust to make sure they had an understanding of horse biology and psychology.

Matthew added: “We of course didn’t want to spend all that time building a beautiful horse and then have everyone on stage not treating it like a real horse because it kills the illusion.”

Part of that illusion is also built up in the way puppeteers Sam Clark, Michael Taibi and Derek Arnold work together. They make all of Joey’s sounds themselves and embedded in that is their own language of sorts.

Derek, Joey’s hind, said: “We can use breath to communicate. So if we’re going from a trot into a gallop Mike can communicate that to me through a breath and then I can give him the impetus through the back legs to shift into a gallop.”

Those sounds tell part of the story too. For example, if Joey is exhausted from pulling guns his breath will be deep and slow. If anxious his breath will be shallow.

Sam, Joey’s head, said: “A horse’s lungs are about the same capacity as three people so to make the horses sound full and rich we balance them between us.”

And while Sam is bringing Joey to life through his facial expressions, it is Michael’s job to sell the weight of the horse with each stamp and footfall.

Derek added: “It’s really important to remember when you’re bringing a puppet onto the stage that you’ve got to fight every single second to keep it ‘alive’. Because the minute you drop that it becomes just a piece of wood. So what we’re doing is constantly listening to each other and bringing that to life.”