Something very big is on the way to Liverpool

Aug 2 2008 By Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL has had its fair share of symbolic artworks over the years, from the Liver Birds to the Yellow Submarine and the Superlambanana to the Iron Men.

Now, something is on the way to the city that has the promise to become just as iconic.

French company La Machine – the people who brought the 60ft high mechanical Sultan’s Elephant to London in 2006 – are working on a surprise creature that in just over a month will take to the streets of Liverpool for a three-day entertainment spectacular that, knowing something of what’s in store, will be unlike anything the city has ever seen.

One thing that can’t be said just yet, though, is exactly what the creature, nicknamed La Princess by its creators, will be.

The Daily Post yesterday had a sneak preview, looking around the workshop in Nantes where the creature is being completed, and has been sworn to secrecy as to what is about to transpire.

Director Francois Delaroziere said: “It is really important that it is a surprise, that the people of Liverpool see it for themselves and start to tell others about it, that the people create the excitement.

“It’s like having a present and knowing what’s inside the box – it’s better when you don’t know.”

We’ll be talking one big box – in this instance the present has been one year in the making, cost nearly £2m (the majority funded by the Culture Company), weighs 37 tonnes, and is hundreds of times bigger than what it is really supposed to be. Any guesses?

With its industrial heritage and the public’s affinity with the streets, Liverpool, Mr Delaroziere believes, is “ready for something slightly crazy to happen”, perhaps more than anywhere else in the UK.

“In Liverpool it is interesting, there is a lot of communities, two religions on Hope Street.

“Normally,” he revealed, “this creature is something people don’t like. But we hope, after two or three days, people like it and it brings communities together.”

The regeneration of Liverpool and the amount of building work going on also served as an inspiration for the creature’s story. The Liverpool show, in conjunction with live events specialists Artichoke, has been named by its French creators Les Mechanique Savants, literally, “the machine that knows”.

The giant creature will appear unannounced in a very prominent city centre location for the first time on Friday, September 5. It has been created especially for Liverpool with the city in mind.

La Machine had six potential animals as options, and settled on the chosen one after Mr Delaroziere paid a visit to see what would really suit the surroundings best.

“The star of the show is the city, and people will be reminded how wonderful the streets of their city really are,” he said.

“That was how we created the show, by seeing particular sites and thinking about the scenes I wanted to create.”

After the thing is discovered, it will be taken to another part of the city, where it will awaken for the Saturday and Sunday, literally stopping traffic with its special effects and cast of more than 100 actors and musicians that will travel across Liverpool.

Between now and then, the creature has been dismantled and is being shipped over to Cammell Laird, where it will be rebuilt and rehearsals for the spectacle will take place.

Like the elephant, it will be a mechanical frame covered with a realistic looking wooden “skin”, manned by eight operators.

And if after September 7, it has proved so popular the city can’t bear to be parted with it – Merseyside does tend to get attached to its public art after all – La Machine is open to the idea of Liverpool “adopting” the creature and letting it stay.

PHILHARMONIC AT THE BBC PROMS: PAGE 6

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