May 5th -7th 2006
One of the problems we all face at Unusual is explaining to others what we all do. We spend our lives doing what others can't or won't do. Life is never boring! Any explanation of The Sultan & The Elephant usually had to be prefaced with an assurance that we are as sane as anybody else and that we are actually speaking the truth. In the end, over a million people filled the streets of London to witness the most spectacular piece of street theatre ever seen in this country.

This event came about through the vision of Royal De Luxe, the sheer belief and hard work of the UK promoters, Artichoke Productions Ltd. and a meaty partnership of agencies, authorities, contractors and others – all led by Unusual Services Ltd. Our role was to provide the environment to enable Royal De Luxe to perform their spectacular piece of street theatre.

In creating the performance environment, the main issues concerned scale. La Petite geante, the little girl was a mere six metre high puppet weighing one tonne whilst the Elephant was seven metres wide, twelve and a half metres high and weighed in at over 40 tonnes! London is the first capital city to be visited by a Royal De Luxe project and they soon realised that big cities can pose some interesting problems. Initially, a practical route had to be proposed to meet the theatrical needs of the project. Once this was done, the detailed programme of preparation started, including the need to make certain modifications to street furniture, as it is so delicately called. Over six months, a comprehensive plan was worked on by a range of experts from Westminster City Council, Wesminster Transerv, The Metropolitan Police, The Royal Parks, The GLA, Transport for London, London Ambulance Service, London Buses and many more including Unusual's traffic management and stewarding teams. This was the largest partnership exercise undertaken by Unusual and the planning process paid of handsomely with an enormously successful event.

Unusual would like to pay tribute to everybody involved in this project. It only happened because everybody made it their own personal business to make it happen. On the face of it, this could have been one challenge too many but it has proved that London is a positive city that knows how to deliver the very best. The centre of London was handed over to the people for a joyous weekend with miles of smiles.

We are known at Unusual for accepting a challenge and this one is probably the hardest yet...until the next one! The rewards of seeing so many people enjoy such an extraordinary spectacle were immeasurable.

More info & links:
www.thesultanselephant.com
www.artichokeproductions.co.uk
Review:
Guardian/Lyn Gardner
Feature:
BBC London
Photographs:
Over 5,000 pictures on flickr