The National Theatre’s acclaimed production of War Horse is galloping its way around the UK as part of a major tour.

And it arrived at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre last night for the first time, where it runs until December 2.

Set against a backdrop of the First World War, the play is an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel and tells the story of teenager Albert Narracott (played by Thomas Dennis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night fame) whose beloved horse Joey is conscripted to serve on the bloody Battlefields of France in 1914.

Albert, who at 16 is too young to enlist himself, hopes to be reunited with his loyal companion within months, but as the war drags on longer than anticipated he takes drastic action to find his friend.

Directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, Joey and his new equine comrade Topthorn are brought to life thanks to the ground-breaking and incredible puppetry of South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company.

The puppetry work is simply exquisite, from every twitching ear, swooshing tail and gallop, you sensed the animal's fear, bewilderment and pain as they endeavoured to fulfil their duties - or else meet their end.

The journey of the courageous duo highlights the suffering and horrific experience around one million horses endured after being forced to join a conflict they lacked any means to understand. In fact, only around 62,000 of them returned to the UK after Armistice Day.

With the injection of scents into the theatre, smoke-filled air, carefully crafted costumes, explosions and gunshots which made the audience jump, accompanied by snippets of haunting music this was a front row seat to a gripping live action war story.

A 25-metre projection screen, designed to look like a page ripped from a sketchbook, hovers above the stage. Its carefully crafted drawings of poppies, battle scenes and key events, such as the Battle of the Somme, help to quickly move the play along and keep the audience abreast of what the year is.

The plot is an amazing tale of loyalty, friendship, camaraderie, courage, fear, and suffering that kept the audience gripped throughout and left many leaving the auditorium with tears rolling down their cheeks.

It is unsurprising therefore that War Horse has won 25 awards including the Tony Award for Best Play on Broadway, making it the most successful play in the National Theatre’s history.

But this production is not just a play, it is an educational work of theatrical art and one you really don’t want to miss seeing.

As one man, who was sat watching the show alone and choking back tears, said as he stood up to leave 'Wow, that was amazing'.

For tickets, visit the ATG website or for other shows at the Empire you can also visit Ticketmaster .

War Horse runs at the Liverpool Empire from November 15 to December 2, 2017.