Anyone wandering through the streets of Antwerp this weekend may spot an unusual sight: two large life-like dogs seeking to find each other in the maze of the city's streets.
The French theatre company Royal de Luxe has been travelling to the Belgian city of Antwerp since 1998, stunning audiences with their traditional puppet theatre in XL format.
Referred to as "The Giants," the puppets have in the past taken the shape of a 7.5-metre tall Giant Grandmother taking a nap on the Theatre Square, and a Giant Diver who was pulled out of the water while a recurring character, Little Giantess, was sleeping on the southern docks of Zuiderdokken.
This year, for the company's sixth visit, two giant dogs, one named the Bull Machin, a 4.40 m tall purebred dog with a lamppost on his back like a miner's lamp, who wags, drools and sticks out his tongue. The other is a Mexican hairless dog Xolo who is about the size of a horse with agile eyes, will take over yet-to-be-determined locations in the heart of Antwerp.
Credit: De Reuzen Antwerpen/ Royal de Luxe
Early in the morning and at night, The Giants are usually sleeping – a spectacle in itself, as they make snoring sounds and their stomachs move up and down – but in the daytime, they make their way through the city, sometimes at speeds of up to 18 km/h.
The mechanical giants are operated by the theatre company's team, which in comparison seem dwarf-like, who work to bring the beasts to life, make them eat, drink and wash, and make them as lively as possible to stir up the emotions of the crowds, bridging the gap between reality and imagination.
While the dogs have been welcomed in other cities before, their passage through Antwerp was written to suit the city. This has, to the criticism of some locals, resulted in a budget of €1 million being freed up for the event, and required tram lines to be raised, trees trimmed and café terraces to be relocated.
A crowd gathering around the Grandmother Giant puppet in 2015. Credit: Belga/ Jasper Jacobs
The arrival of the giant dogs also led to the cancellation of the city's Culture Weekend, a traditional cultural fair to celebrate the start of the new cultural season, which sees countless cultural houses, organisations, companies and artists from the city present their season with previews.
The decision sparked criticism that the local authorities who chose big events over local cultural players.
The street theatre company has already performed all over the world, from Belgium, Korea, China, Vietnam, Canada, Australia and Chile to Cameroon. They will visit Antwerp on 25, 26 and 27 August this year. Find more information here.
