War Horse, no neigh-sayer would deny it a second run-out. After universal acclaim, not to mention a hatful of awards for design, last year, Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book about a Devon farm horse amid the horrors of the First World War makes a welcome return.

The stars of this thrilling production from Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris are, once again, the magnificent articulated beasts from Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler of Handspring Puppet Company. Joey the foal has three handlers and skittishly long legs; his towering grown-up self also requires a trio to manipulate him. Every flick of his ears and shake of his head conveys more than a dozen lines of script could, expertly suggesting an innate sensibility of the emotions of all other living creatures.

With such silent eloquence from the puppets, whose beauty is thrown into even greater relief by an almost bare stage, lengthy wordless sections are never less than gripping. There are some harrowing tableaux, and Rae Smith’s impressive gash of video design suspended high above the action helps to reinforce an ominous sense of time and place.

Outside the equine sphere, matters are more problematic. The narrative thrust concerns the efforts of 16-year-old Albert, a desperate under‑age soldier, to track down the horse he nurtured back when the land was green and pleasant rather than carnage-strewn.

Unfortunately, Kit Harington’s Albert is comprehensively out‑acted by Joey, as well as a marvellously inquisitive wheeled goose.
Long passages of German also make us glad that animals speak a universal language.
These are minor quibbles. This is a huge, well-deserved family hit and the National should be stamping its hooves in delight.

Until 24 January (020 7452 3000).