Well, what can we say about the weekend? We were really looking forward to it and Royal De Luxe certainly amazed us with their Sea Odyssey.
Sea Odyssey centred on the story of a Little Girl Giant, whose father was on the Titanic, she visited Liverpool in the hopes of finding information about him. Her Uncle had made a pilgrimage to the wreck of the Titanic and was walking across the ocean floor to meet his niece in Liverpool with a letter for her, written by her father.
The story started on Friday with the Uncle rising from the waters and exploring the city centre then heading to Stanley Park, where his niece had earlier woken up, showered and dressed and sailed into town on her boat. We sat with our camera at St George’s Hall on Friday and through the crowds saw the Little Girl Giant arrive on her boat, while her dog Xoxo played and ran about the crowd. Here, she got off the boat and walked down to Kings Dock. The atmosphere was amazing and the audience loved every minute of the show as the dog rubbed noses with children sitting on their parents’ shoulders.
There huge puppets were attended to by Lilliputians, and after a while you forgot that they were puppets as the expressions and animation was so lifelike. The Uncle Giant needed 31 Lilliputians and every second a pair of them jumped off the crane carrying the puppet to pull on ropes to make the legs move. It was the most fantastic sight to see.
Saturday began with the two Giants at opposite ends of the city again, only this time the Little Girl Giant stays close to the docks while her Uncle heads back and they finally meet at Kings Dock. There was a huge cheer and applause from the crowds when the two giants hugged, and the Little Girl danced and jumped in the air for joy. I will happily admit to feeling quite emotional at that point and wiping a tear away!
Sunday began as Saturday had finished, with the Little Girl sat on her Uncle’s lap; both fast asleep with Xoxo at their feet. When awake, the Uncle read out the father’s letter, a moving farewell to his daughter from the depths of the Atlantic. Then it was time for one last parade around the docks, with a truck that exploded letters into the crowds, and a final goodbye as they boarded a boat headed for the ocean.
This has been a truly wonderful weekend in Liverpool and our congratulations for a successful show go to Royal De Luxe, a French street theatre company who were also behind La Princesse and The Sultan’s Elephant. This show happened in London 6 years ago and featured a Girl Giant walking and travelling around London on the back of a 20 foot tall puppet elephant, and is a favourite of mine. La Princesse is, of course, the unforgettable machine spider that climbed around the city centre four years ago, scaring a few of the shoppers!
Sea Odyssey has definitely captured the hearts of withoutequal photography and everyone who came to see it, and we thank all those who made this event possible and this weekend so memorable.
