Beyond the Moon farm: Roger Says: (About Linz Creatures)

Thanks for all your thoughts and wishes for the performance.

After weeks of perfect weather (photo by Alex Davies) in Linz the skies went dark a few days before the event and the rain came down. Predictions were not good for Saturday.
Astrid and Jessica arrived in the rain Thursday morning.

We had wet rehearsals on Thursday night where

we managed our only run through, an extremely chaotic dress rehearsal. At one stage all 200 participants rushed for a small tent without climbing out of their animals. Casualties: one elephant nose dive, 20 broken frames, 30 broken foot controls and 201 sense-of-humour failures. Humour loss not surprising among the participants as some people had spent 4 to 5 hours inside their animals. (photo by Nick Malagas)

Amazingly on Friday about 400 people turned up for a briefing and to walk their day time routes in the rain.

Saturday we woke up to a cool morning with a strong wind and clearing skies. We had every one of the 450 creatures built or repaired and ready for action. (photo by Alex Davies)

By 2pm the wind was still howling and Herons were being ripped from the participants hands in the swirling city gusts. We made the decision to close the route over the exposed Danube Bridge for all animals other than a few low sturdy ones and sent the rest with the big group dow

n Landstrasse.

At 2.30 we started sending the animals into the main square 'Hauptplatz' through three different entrances. I had put together 4 lists of departing times trying to compensate for the speed of the various animals or lack thereof.

The authorities were only stopping the trams at 3pm but I felt there was plenty of space for the early animals in their stations
along the side of the track. I had not

compensated for the 1000's of people waiting for them. The animals squeezed into the crowds and there was no space for even a mini when the tram trundled through. There was apparently an amazing show of animal testosterone between the Tram, dinosaurs, rhinos, elephants as they sized each other up for supremacy. The tram finally squeezed out the other end of the square, very late and with a seriously bruised ego. (photo by Alex Davies)

The march was very slow through the crowds, the animals seemed to touch a nerve and I had to look hard for a face without a smile. My instructions to the participants to ignore everyone around them was out of the window in 2 minutes as the attention brought out the hidden performer in each and every one of them. The animals kissed children, posed, danced to the music, chatted and generally did everything I feared most. Linz threw my script out of the window and wrote a new one that would have had Walt Disney in tears. it was fantastic!

For the main show the wind dropped and the animals behaved impeccably - Astrid tells me (I couldn't see much of the show from where I was standing).

The lighting was beautiful as was the music and the fireworks, didn't understand any of the dialogue though. (photo by Alex Davies)

I will try to get a cd of the show but for now take a look at this link if you can for pics

http://www.linz09.at/en/pressefotos/download/2130855.html we will update our wesite http://www.linzcreatures.net/ this week

It has been a long but wonderful experience for Chris, M!a and myself, but jislaaik, It’s lekker to be home! (photo by Alex Davies)