25th to the 27th July was the return of Royal de Luxe’s giant marionettes to Liverpool.
In 2012 not long after my father had passed, Little Girl Giant, Xolo her dog and the Diver came to thrill the streets of Liverpool in A Sea Odyssey, and left a lasting impact on the psyche of all who saw them.
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In 2014, they once again took over the streets of Liverpool, this time with dear old Grandmother in tow. They were part of the World War One commemorations. Liverpool was celebrating the heroism of it Pals, 5,000 men who volunteered for the war effort! Almost half never returned and those who did were left with scars both physically and mentally.
David and I on the Friday took the bus into town at 8am on a bright sunny morning and stood for over three hours waiting and watching as Little Girl Giant and Xolo awoke to start their journey around town and witnessed the Grandmother visit the city for the first time.
While waiting for the Giants to wake up, David and I were magnets for the media. We were approached by BBC Merseyside, Juice FM and a gentleman asked if he could take our picture for a magazine, though I didn’t catch the name of it! David and I must look approachable or was it the red cat suit I wore on the day?
David and I in Newsham Park
It was hot, too hot and the swelling crowds seemed endless, like a sea of humanity stretching fathomlessly through the city’s streets.
For the next three days the weather played along and visitors came from both far and wide to witness the magical spectacle.
As the Giants took over the city’s streets, public transport was sorely affected. On the Friday we ended up walking half way home as buses were diverted. We finally picked up one by the Women’s Hospital, both disgruntled and with sore feet!
I struggled with a migraine all weekend. The heat and standing in the sun for hours did not help.
On the Friday evening, after trying to sleep off the migraine, David and I went to Newsham Park where the evenings events were to be held. We went with his family. As expected the fields were already filled with people, so we were not so lucky as in the morning in getting a front row spot!
The giants were over an hour late as Grandmother had a malfunction with her head!! At least it was a nice warm evening under a golden sun!
Giant spectacular, Liverpool 2014
Finally the Giants entered the make shift stage. There were Pipers pipping, drummers on top of double decker cars and Xolo ran around entertaining the crowds. The grandmother sat down next to the Little Girl Giant and told the tale of how the Giants made mankind! They then all bedded down for the night while cheesily John Lennon’s ‘Imagine‘ played into the twilight.
We did not go to see the other two days. Saturday was a blur as I recovered from my migraine and Sunday, because we knew there would be crowds, we decided to cut our loses. At least we had seen the Giants during their visit, and we had seen them two years ago. However I did not feel the emotion that I had on their first visit to the city. Perhaps I was still in mourning then? Either way, the Giants this time around was as good if not more productive for the city and its credibility. May they return in the future with a much stronger tale to tell.
Christine 2014.
Christine Lucas 