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HMS Illustrious was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". In 1982, the conflict in the Falklands necessitated that Illustrious be completed and rushed south to join her sister ship HMS Invincible and the veteran carrier HMS Hermes. To this end, she was brought forward by three months for completion at Swan Hunter Shipyard, then commissioned on 20 June 1982 at sea en route to Portsmouth Dockyard to take on board extra stores and crew. She arrived in the Falklands to relieve Invincible on 28 August 1982 in a steam past. Returning to the United Kingdom, she was not formally commissioned into the fleet until 20 March 1983. After her South Atlantic deployment, she was deployed on Operation Southern Watch in Iraq, then Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia during the 1990s and Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone in 2000. An extensive re-fit during 2002 prevented her from involvement in the 2003 Iraq War, but she was repaired in time to assist British citizens trapped by the 2006 Lebanon War.
The Sultan's Elephant was a show created by the Royal de Luxe theatre company, involving a huge moving mechanical elephant, a giant marionette of a girl and other associated public art installations. In French it was called La visite du sultan des Indes sur son éléphant à voyager dans le temps. The show was commissioned to commemorate the centenary of Jules Verne's death, by the two French cities of Nantes and Amiens, funded by a special grant from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. The show was performed at various locations around the world between 2005 and 2006.
Royal de Luxe is a French mechanical marionette street theatre company which specialises in giant puppets. They were founded in 1979 in Aix-en-Provence by Jean-Luc Courcoult. After some years based in Toulouse, the company moved to Nantes in 1989. The company has performed in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Chile, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Ireland.
HMS Charger is an Archer-class patrol vessel built by Watercraft Limited, Shoreham-by-Sea and fitted out at Vosper Thornycroft. She is just over 20 metres long and 5.8 metres wide and powered by two Rolls-Royce turbo engines. The ship is based at HMS Eaglet, the Royal Naval Headquarters in Liverpool and was commissioned in 1988. She has five full-time RN crew, and sails with an RNR training officer and a maximum complement of 12 students. She is attached to the Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit.
La Princesse is a 15-metre (50-foot) mechanical spider designed and operated by French performance art company La Machine. The spider was showcased in Liverpool, England, as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations, travelling around the city between 3-7 September. In 2009, it was on display in Yokohama, Japan, as part of Yokohama's 150th anniversary of its port opening. Arts reviewer Lyn Gardner wrote in The Guardian "There were times when it seemed to be leading the entire population of the city on a merry dance, like some kind of arachnid pied piper."
La Machine is a French production company based in Nantes, France, which is famous for La Princesse, a 50-foot mechanical spider constructed in Nantes, France.
François Delarozière is the art director of La Machine, a French company which is a collaboration between artists, designers, fabricators and technicians and which specialises in producing giant performing machines, often creatures. He has collaborated with French and international companies in productions ranging from traditional theatre to experimental street art.
The SS Gairsoppa was a British steam merchant ship built in Jarrow and launched in 1919. After a long civilian career, she saw service during the Second World War. She was named after the town of Gerusoppa on the banks of River Sharavati in Karnataka, India, which due to its easy access to water transportation and as a distribution centre for crops including pepper, was the commercial capital for centuries.
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family were aboard vessels that took part in the parade. The parade was organised by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, and funded by private donations and sponsorship. The pageant master was Adrian Evans.
Sea Odyssey: Giant Spectacular was a three-day outdoor performance art event featuring giant marionettes, that took place in Liverpool, England, from 20 to 22 April 2012.
The ocean liner RMS Titanic has been extensively portrayed in films, books, memorials and museums.
The Liverpool Giants are a set of giant marionettes built by French theatre company Royal de Luxe and displayed in a series of shows in Liverpool, in England.
SS Avila Star, originally SS Avila, was a British turbine steamship of the Blue Star Line. She was both an ocean liner and a refrigerated cargo ship, providing a passenger service between London and South America and carrying refrigerated beef from South America to London. She was built in 1927, renamed Avila Star in 1929 and lengthened in 1935. She was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 with the loss of 84 lives.
Jonathan Holloway is an artistic director and theatre director. Originally from Sheffield in the north of England, he is currently the artistic director of Melbourne Festival. Previously he established the National Theatre's Watch This Space Festival, was artistic director and chief executive of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and most recently the artistic director of the Perth International Arts Festival., which culminated with The Giants by Royal de Luxe, one of the largest arts events ever staged in Australia.
Liverpool’s Dream was a three-day outdoor performance art event featuring giant marionettes, that took place in Liverpool, England, from 5 to 7 October 2018. The event attracted more than a million visitors to the city and was, in part, a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008. It was billed as being the last appearance of the giants and the final show of the ‘Giants Trilogy’ after Sea Odyssey and Memories of August 1914.
A giant puppet is a puppet which is tall enough to be easily visible to a street crowd while being manipulated by puppeteers, on the same level. It is therefore most suitable for processions, street theatre and performance art, although some large theatrical animations can be used for the same purpose. Giant puppets are usually articulated and made from a lightweight material. Some are manipulated by puppeteers using rods, strings, stilts, other mechanisms, or a combination of these. Giant puppets have been used worldwide for street entertainment, celebrations or other purposes from ancient times, and they continue in use and in development today. Of the traditional giant rod puppets, the Chinese dragon New Year puppet is "perhaps the most recognized form of the parade puppet". Of the most recent examples, Royal de Luxe of France has produced a notable set of giant string puppets.
References
- 1 2 3 "Sea Odyssey giants return to Liverpool for WW1 commemoration". BBC. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ↑ "Liverpool Giants: 20,000 visit 'sleeping' Grandmother". BBC. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- ↑ "Liverpool Giants: Thousands watch second day of marionette show". BBC. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ↑ "Liverpool Giants: Marionettes sail away in river boat finale". BBC. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- ↑ "The Giants may be on the way back to Liverpool, reveals city Mayor Joe Anderson". Liverpool Echo. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ↑ "Giant puppets return to Liverpool for commemorative WW1 event". Standout Magazine. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ↑ "Confirmed: There will be giants". Liverpool Confidential. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
