The Sultan's Elephant
London played host to a wonderful, inspirational, completely free outdoor theatrical spectacle for four days over last weekend and I was delighted to be able to see it on the beautiful sunny Friday and a slightly greyer Sunday.
The Sultan's Elephant, performed by Royal de Luxe and inspired by the stories of Jules Verne, tells of a Sultan "tormented in his dreams by visions of a little girl who was travelling through time" and who been transformed by his nightmares into a 5 metre tall marionette; he commissioned a 19th century engineer to construct a time travelling mechanical elephant the height of a three storey building to track her down. As you do.
Click here to read more of the story.
On Thursday a rocket crashed into Waterloo Place and some time later the 'little girl' stepped out and spent the next few days exploring her surroundings, meeting the elephant, exercising in St James' Park and swinging small children from her arms.
The elephant carried a cast of characters who were busy all the time, dancing and performing for the Sultan as it trundled up and down the Mall, spraying water over the crowds, chomping on the trees, visiting Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus with enthralled crowds following in its wake.
More information from the BBC and more of my photos on flickr.
posted by Becky at Tuesday, May 09, 2006
2 Comments:
Wow, that looks absolutely spectacular ... the elephant is amazing ;)
Love your murals in the posts below - very colourful and fun!
Hi Gail, thanks for your comments, the elephant was the most spectacular thing I've ever seen I think, it and the girl were incredibly charismatic, just drawing the crowds along in their wake.
Post a Comment
<< Home