Urban Street Opera in Toulouse
In southern France, urban street opera in Toulouse has been a hot discussion topic for over a month after their giant puppets and street stopping show debuted. Originally created by François Delaroziere and La Compagnie La Machine, the show was a sequel to the first part of “The Guardian of the Temple”, held back in autumn of 2018. The sequel created a stir among natives in the town and left all wondering if the Pink City will host a similar show again in the future…
Over three days in late October, the streets of Toulouse, France, was host to an urban opera titledThe Guardian of the Temple—The Gates of Darkness.The show amazed the crowd gathered along the streets with three massive robotic puppets featuring mythological creatures — Lilith the scorpion woman, Asterion the Minotaur, and Ariane the spider. The puppets performed in several locations around the city. The show, put on by the French street-theater company La Compagnie La Machine, was directed by François Delarozière. The puppets were an astounding 14 meters tall (about 46 feet).
““We always work on movement,” said La Machine’s head of marketing, Frédette Lampre. “It’s our artistic line and we always use the fine material such as wood, leather, copper, or glass, and never use plastics.”
Though the original urban opera was 6 years ago, it is no wonder why there was such a lengthy time between shows. The giant mechanical puppets took teams of almost 60 people and over two years to construct, each weighing over 4500 kilograms (10,000 pounds). Some of the puppets required multiple technicians to operate and the minotaur needed 17 operators.
This urban street opera in Toulouse is a massive reminder of what can be accomplished with imagination and modern technology. The minotaur puppet is half electric and half combustion as it blasted steam through its nostrils yet moved seemingly effortlessly through the city’s streets. The show also featured pyrotechnics which brought crowds around the city centre a stunning display of what it may have been like in ancient Greece reliving the stories. The show was three acts held throughout the day (morning, afternoon, and evening) likely to give the operators time to rest from the steam and heat from being inside the puppets.
Not only were the puppets able to manoeuvre among the city’s streets, but they were also able to cross Toulouse’s bridges! The puppets are seemingly similar to that of a parade at massive theme parks, but some main differences between them lies in the details. Unlike that of theme parks, these puppets didn’t try to hide the mechanisms of the moving parts, keeping the undersides and wheels exposed. The sound system attached to the monstrous mechanical marionettes was also open for the public to see, making it easier to hear the live sound for the urban street opera.
Since the operators of the puppets were able to see the audience in the street, they were able to allow audience interaction with the puppets as well. In total, this show drew over 1.2 million people to the streets of Toulouse. Clearly, urban street opera in Toulouse is becoming a popular art form that everyone can enjoy from the balcony of their houses.
Main photo by: Pat Batard and Hans Lucas All photos accordingly credited to photographers.
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