The Giant Spectacular – Liverpool’s Centenary Remembrance

Whilst Warwick was waiting for the six-metre Lady Godiva to wake as part of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress, the city of Liverpool were bedazzled by three giants of their own.

The Royale De Lux returned to Liverpool for the second time to produce The Giant Spectacular from the 23^rd to the 27^th of July 2014. The crowds were almost as immense as the mechanics themselves, with an estimated 20,000 visiting the sleeping form of an eight-metre Grandma Giant on the first day in her St. George’s Hall bedroom. With over a million people turning up to wave the Grandma, Little Girl and Dog Xolo off as they sailed down the river Mersey in a blaze of dry-ice and regalia.

The lucid genius of the three giants and their stories, both about their own world (located somewhere beyond the big bang) and the Liverpool pals battalions, was engineered by Jean Luc Courcoult as part of the 14-18NOW centenary remembrance of World War One. The aim of engaging as many children in the production as possible was captured in the life-like and humorous interactions that the giants had with the crowd. From Xolo’s marking of territory to the farting Grandma – swarms of children sat on shoulders at every turn of the giant’s journey, many of whom cried as the puppets were put to sleep on the final day.

Having been in Liverpool two years previous for the Titanic’s centenary, with the Little Girl Giant and her Uncle going for a dive in the Mersey, the City Council’s previous experience of these larger than life events was clear in the organisation of the event.

Crowds were managed well as the Giants toured their thirty mile route, with the Grandma reading (via human translator) letters and diary entries from war survivors and those who left behind, many of which brought tears to the eyes of an older generation.

The street theatre piece was as successful as Liverpool could have hoped for – building exponentially on the Royal De Luxe’s last visit in 2012 – and leaving many people asking when they would be back again. Many speculate at the answer being 2016, to carry on the World War One motif, but only Courcoult and his closest circle can really know the answer to this question, as well as many other giant-related mysteries.