Page 40 - Year 7 Spring 2026 Knowledge Organiser

Performing Arts: Drama Focus: War Horse: 2 of 3

PLOT
• Albert and his beloved horse, Joey, live on a farm in the British countryside in Devon.
• At the outbreak of World War I (1914), Albert and Joey are forcibly parted when Albert's
father sells the horse to the British cavalry.
• Against the backdrop of the Great W25ar, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy and
sorrow, and he transforms everyone he meets along the way.
• Meanwhile Albert, unable to forget his friend, searches the battlefields of France to find
Joey and bring him home.

CONTEXT: TRENCHES & HORSES
• On the Western Front, the war was fought by soldiers in trenches.
• Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived.
• They were very muddy, uncomfortable and the toilets overflowed.
• The presence of horses often increased morale among the soldiers at the front, but the
animals contributed to disease and poor sanitation in trenches, caused by their manure
and carcasses.

CONTEXT: TRENCHES & HORSES

Still image – Frozen still and silent
Slow motion – The action is slowed down

Levels – Laid on floor, stood on a chair, stood on a table
Flashback – Can be created with slow motion, still image, flash-forward,
Puppetering - Form of performance that involves the manipulation of puppets, puppeteers use movements from hands and arms
to control
Choral speech | movement – Speaking or moving in unison, cannon

Soundscape – Sounds created using your voices, movement, sound effects
Body isolation- selecting a particular section of your body that you will manipulate while other parts of that body remain motionless ​

Context- The situation, place or time the play is set, or the scene takes place.