A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

'White Surrey' tops the bill as Shakespeare’s play for horse-lovers is mounted in Kidderminster on Boxing Day.

This appears to be one of the few playbills for a Shakespeare production that has a picture on it.

But it’s not a likeness of an actor or famous scene from Richard III which gets top billing. It’s a lovely image of 'White Surrey'.

Surrey was the name of the King Richard III’s trusty mount, and in the previous scene he orders his horse to be saddled in preparation for battle.

Possibly the most famous line in the play – the one everyone quotes whether they have seen the play or not - is uttered by King Richard.

For want of a horse, the King’s fate and the future of his kingdom, is sealed.

Unable to flee or gather more troops, he is killed in a duel and his slayer, the Earl of Richmond, becomes Henry VII.

The author of this playbill knows this picture of Surrey will chime with his audience. Like Shakespeare, these spectators in this rural town held horses in high esteem.

Not only did they rely on horsepower for agricultural tasks and transport – some would have travelled to the theatre by carriage on that particular Friday evening. Earlier they may have made merry at a Boxing Day Hunt, a seasonal fixture for the county set.

We don’t know if White Surrey was an entrancing figment of the author’s imagination or a real 'equine' actor, all flaring nostrils and piston hooves. It’s fun to imagine the latter and the delight on the spectators faces as he pranced across the stage.

And where exactly was that stage? There is no address on the playbill and the most likely explanation is because everyone would have known where the theatre was sited.

Although it’s likely (but not certain) that the Kidderminster Theatre was in a building that was used for other purposes the rest of the year, when it was acting as a theatre it would have remained that way for a month or two.

From the second playbill we see how quickly things can change.

This playbill dated October 21st 1839, also for Richard III, proudly advertises Kidderminster’s New Theatre on Cross Street.

The old theatre might have burnt down, as so many theatres did in the 19th century, or maybe the town had grown larger or more prosperous so it was able to support a larger and/or permanent theatre.

This time the novelty is the new building, not King Richard’s White Surrey.