September 4, 2006

Eric Holowacz posted 2 Sep 2006, 04:08 PM
Sultan’s Elephant. Has anyone been following the latest Royal de Luxe?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01YDG8hD-Ac
Is this the future of theatre?
Massive yet sublime story-telling. Bold spectacle with careful craftsmanship.
The sultan’s elephant and the little girl giant….
http://www.thesultanselephant.com/gallery/gallery.php
Public art, street theatre, machinery and rigging, literature, mystery, operatic scale, audience enchantment, total community immersion.
What would it take to get that time-travelling pachyderm, gentle giant, and her spaceship to Aotearoa?
Great day-by-day photos and videos here
http://www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_luxe_2005/index.asp
Amazing stuff.
Eric Holowacz

Ron Kjestrup posted 4 Sep 2006, 10:46 AM
A bloody fortune – that’s what, Eric. ..be great to see though.
I don’t know about the “future” of theatre….isn’t it just a more hightech development of the likes of Welfare State International and some of the many parade groups like Bread and Puppet?..
We’ve had some pretty good efforts in New Zealand on a similar scale. Welfare State were here in the 8O’s and produced a nice piece at QE2 park at Paekakariki called Eyeball Eyeball – with local performers and makers. And – although it turned into a bit of a fiasco when the Wellington City Council workers refused to control the enormous crowd – Joe Bleakley’s Sun Festival in Oriental Bay was a huge piece with floating towers towed by fishing boats, fully decorated trucks and an orchestra on the rotunda. (and Richard Till, as I recall, dressed rather finely)
That elephant, though, would cost six years funding for the Court Theatre 😉 !