250,000 people flock to Liverpool for giant puppet show

Funds set aside from Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture will mean that more than 250,000 people are expected to line the streets of Liverpool this weekend for a £1.5 million giant puppet show called Sea Odyssey.  The puppets are so big that it can take up to 10 people to tug the ropes that make a single limb move. The show is brought to the city by the French street theatre company Royal De Luxe, which has gained a global reputation and performed shows all over the world. The shows in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2010 and in Santiago, Chile, in 2007, reached audiences of 3.5 million and 2 million respectively. This will be the company’s second time in the UK, having previously previously performed The Sultan’s Elephant in 2006 with a 42-ton mechanical elephant roamed through London’s Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.

To Liverpool, the company will perform with three puppets. A girl giant and her uncle, and a dog called Xolo. The girl is representing a real schoolgirl from the city, May McMurray, whose father was a steward on the Titanic. She wrote a touching letter to her father the day before the ship sank, and the story goes that the larger giant is her uncle, a diver, who has found his reply. The girl giant can be seen in the clip below.

Here are details of the route for anyone interested in attending the spectacle.

Friday 20th April 2012

Little Girl Giant 9.30am – 12.30pm
Wakes up 9.30am and leaves Stanley Park via Walton Lane, onto Anfield Road, Sleepers Hill, Walton Breck Road, Oakfield Road, Breck Road, arriving at Everton Brow 12.30pm.

Little Girl Giant 4.30pm – 7.30pm
Following a siesta, she will leave Everton Brow at 4.30pm, turn right onto Heyworth Street, onto Islington via Low Erskine Street, Commutation Row, Lime Street, St George’s Place, Queen Square Bus Station, Whitechapel, Paradise Street (Liverpool ONE), Liver Street, onto The Strand, Queens Wharf and arrives at Kings Dock from 7.30pm.

Uncle 2pm – 6.30pm
Departs from Albert Dock at 2pm, and walks along The Strand, James Street, Castle Street, Dale Street, left onto Moorfields, Tithebarn Street, Vauxhall Road, Boundary Street, Kirkdale Road, Walton Road, Salop Street, Tetlow Way, Langham Road, Walton Lane and arrives in Stanley Park from 6.30pm.

Saturday 21st April 2012

Little Girl Giant – 9.30am to 12.30pm and then 4.30pm to 7.30pm
Wakes up at Kings Dock at 9.30am and then travels left on the Strand, up Chapel Street, Tithebarn Street, Moorfields, Dale Street, Castle Street, James Street, crosses the strand to Mann Island, arriving at the Pier Head at 12.30pm.

Following a siesta at the Pier Head, she will wake up at 4.30pm turn right onto Canada Boulevard, onto Mann Island, James Street, Castle Street, Cook Street, Victoria Street, Stanley Street, Whitechapel, Paradise Street (Liverpool ONE), Liver Street, onto the Strand, Queens Wharf, arriving at Kings Dock 7pm where she will sleep.

Uncle – 11.30am to 2.30pm and then 4.45pm to 7.30pm
Wakes up in Stanley Park at 11am, leaves Stanley Park via Walton Lane, onto Anfield Road, Sleepers Hill, Walton Breck Road, Oakfield Road, Breck Road, Heyworth Street, onto Islington via Low Hill and Erskine Street, Moss Street, Daulby Street, Pembroke Place, London Road, arriving at St George’s Hall at 2.30pm.

Following a siesta at St George’s Hall, he will wake up at 4.45pm and walk down Lime Street, Renshaw Street, Berry Street, Nelson Street, St James Street, Blundell Street, Queens Wharf, arriving at Kings Dock 7pm where he will sleep.

Sunday 22nd April 2012

Little Girl Giant and Uncle – 9.30 to 2pm
Wake up at Kings Dock and leave at 9.30am, travel left on the Strand, onto Mann Island, say farewell to the Liver Building, onto Canning Dock where the show’s finale will take place from 12.15pm. The Giants will then leave Liverpool down the River Mersey.

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