To remember the beginning of World War 1, now a hundred years ago, Liverpool put on a show with giant marionettes and men and women dressed in period clothing from 1914. The artistic talent behind the parade is Jean-Luc Courcoult of Royal de Luxe, and they are behind the life-like and theatrical giants. The giants for this 'Memories of 1914' event include the 30-foot tall little girl, her dog Xolo, and the 25-foot grandmother. The grandmother was announced only a few weeks ago, and she's the first marionette by the company to have silicon 'skin'.
The marionettes are primarily made from wood and steel. The hair is made from horse hair. A series of pulleys allowes them to walk and show expressions. They blink and move and seem to embody the nature of their character by the way they move, blink, and show facial expressions. Xolo the dog even drolls. (There are water hoses that go to his mouth.)
The dog's movements are very clever, and he can even run very fast. The tag wags, and he even has a set of teeth and his eyes are painted to show veins. (His eyes look more human than dog, but he uses his mouth, eyes and ears to convey the expression.) He can even stand on his back legs.
Royal de Luxe put on various small and large scale shows, and Liverpool has seen the giants previously in 2012 when they marked the anniversary of the sinking of the 'Titanic'. This was in part funded by their Capital of Culture Year in 2008. The story for this event was inspired by a little girl's letter to a family member on the ship. The little girl met her uncle, dressed in a diver's uniform, and Xolo also played a part in the story.
We opted to go up on the Friday to take advantage of one more day in Liverpool and to see the giants on a slightly quieter day. The press reported that many had queued for hours to see the grandmother in St. George's Hall on the Thursday, so I knew it was going to be busy. However, we were extremely unlucky with traffic, and a normal 3-hour car journey took us nine hours as we got stuck first before Newbury (Berkshire), just down the road from where we live, and the traffic was literally stop-and-start all the way to Liverpool. By the time we arrived, it was just after 7:00 in the evening, and the giant's were resting.
However, we went out the next morning and did some touristy things before we went to Kensington Street (the Islignton side and not far from St. George's Hall) to wait for the giants.Grandma giant led the way.
Her wheelchair was being driven along in front of her. That is one giant wheelchair for a giant grandmother!
And look how large her slippers are! Grandma must like comfortable things. Can you imagine walking about town in slippers all day? Of course, she just woke up. I was amazed at how life-like her features and movements were.
It took several people to control grandma giant's legs. They would queue up onto the vehicle behind her and one of them would jump off the vehicle to make the pulley move grandma's leg so it could 'walk' This was done in turns on either side, and once the person finished their turn, the rope would be handed to the next one in the queue. This looked like incredible tough work. I imagine grandma's legs are quite strong.
About twenty minutes behind grandma was Xolo and the little girl. The little girl sat on top of a bus. The handlers were having a break.
Xolo seemed to be the most popular with everyone. In the photograph below, a little boy pets Xolo. He got the opportunity to sit on top of Xolo just before.
The little girl, Xolo, and grandma arrive by St. George's Hall for a story-telling. This brings the show into the World War 1 theme.
After the grandmother's story telling, which was a grotesque story about the horrors of war and soldiers on the front line in the trenches, the grandmother fell asleep in front of St. George's Hall. Yes, she did actually snore too.
The little girl and Xolo went to fall asleep under a parasol with her radio playing. There are several props for the characters. The little girl also has a scooter, goggles, a radio, and a suitcase.
Later in the day and after the giants had a rest, I caught up with the giant's again near the Liver Building. I did not get a great view to watch the grandmother, but she told another war story. I could hear it better this time, and it was a letter written by a soldier from Liverpool. Grandmother also had several props, including glasses, a wheelchair, a walking stick, and whiskey flask. Apparently she could break wind and spits, but I did not see her do either.
Xolo stole the show again, of course. The kids love him.
Grandmother waved as she passed by on her wheelchair.
On the Sunday, the giants put on a large parade before leaving the city of Liverpool. Confetti was used, and the grandmother, little girl, and dog walked down the Strand. We were at the far end where their giant beds were waiting.
While the giants were being manoeuvered into their beds, we watched the parade of soldiers and some of us were handed the "Your country needs you" war flyers.
The grandmother and little girl and launched into the air so they could be placed into their giant beds.
Of course, this could not be complete without the World War 1 march. These guys were dressed in 1914-style clothing.
The little girl on her bed is tucked in with a big blanket.
Up and down the Strand, Xolo played. I caught him drinking water from a bucket on one of the days. He also has a bone that he can carry.
This is a quick one tonight as I wanted to get my photographs up and I hope you enjoyed these photos. Liverpool also has other artwork and events this year with their Liverpool Biennial, and Giant Spectacular was just one of these events. Some of these coincide with the anniversary of the Great War.
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