Joey the horse, helped by puppeteers Matt Forbes, Matt Burgess and Ian Piears and led by Joshua Blake, entertained hundreds of students at the junior-school campus. Joey was created by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company and is made out of steel, leather and aircraft cables.

Year 8 student Mairead Dullard was one of the enchanted spectators. 

“It is pretty cool how it is made out of what it is, and how realistic it is,” she said. “I thought the puppeteers were really talented and really enthusiastic.” The four men from London’s West End production of War Horse will be in Victoria for the next three weeks to promote the show.

The Australian version of the play opens at the Arts Centre in Melbourne on Monday, December 31. Blake, who plays the role of Captain Nicholls, said it was exciting to take Joey to regional communities. “It’s brilliant. It’s so good to see their reaction and it’s good to give background to the story,” he said.

War Horse was originally a book by Michael Morpurgo and was adapted to the stage by Nick Stafford before Steven Spielberg made it into a film.