Following 8 record-record breaking years in London's West End and having played in 11 countries around the world to over 7 million people, The National Theatre's acclaimed play War Horse will return to Australia in 2020 playing in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
War Horse is the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's story set in Devon in 1912 and tells the story of Albert and his foal, Joey, whom he raises and trains. With the outbreak of World War One, Joey is sold to the British cavalry and Albert is determined to find Joey and bring him home.
"It's a universal story of friendship and love", says Scott Miller who plays the lead role of Albert. "Albert and Joey become good friends; they grow up together, relate to each other and have a bond."
The young actor originates from Cumbernauld, a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland and got his start in Scottish Youth Theatre. In 2017, he graduated the London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) whose alumni include BAFTA winning actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Scott was first involved with the show when they were casting for an International tour.
"It was a long process, 6 or 7 auditions within 2 months. One day I would read a few scenes, another they would have the puppeteers in and I would play and improvise with Joey, then another day it would be working on voice to see if it would cope with a long tour."
Scott worked with a voice coach and succeeded in learning the difficult Devonshire accent.
Since landing the part, Scott has played to audiences in Glasgow, Scotland, around the UK, across to New Zealand and Hong Kong and is currently back in the UK playing in Leicester before moving to London. The cast of around 30 actors and 20 production staff are looking forward to escaping the British winter, arriving the first week of January, just in time for Australia's summertime.
"For those who have never seen the show, it really is a unique and spectacular piece of theatre. It's not what people would imagine it to be. Its huge on stage, yet is intimate. It does things that's never been done in the theatre before that inspired me to want to be a part of it."
Warhorse opens at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne from 10 January;
Lyric Theatre, Sydney from 15 February
Crown Theatre, Perth from 24 March
Tickets available from https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/warhorse
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