Toulouse. Urban Opera of La Machine: this new giant creature will be the surprise of the show

It is the most anticipated show of the year, Toulouse ! From Friday 25 to Sunday 27 October 2024, the The Machine Company will offer a new giant (and free) show in the streets of Toulouse.

The Guardian of the Temple sequel

A show financed by Toulouse Métropole (which will inject more than 2 million euros), and which is intended to be the continuation of the “Guardian of the Temple”which had gathered nearly 900,000 people in November 2018… something never seen before in the Pink City! For this first opus, Francois Delarozièrethe artistic director of the Compagnie La Machine, was inspired by the myth of the Minotaur, Ariadne and Theseus to write his story…

The people of Toulouse who attended will no doubt remember the incredible images of the sleeping Minotaur on Place du Capitole or the Great Spider posted on the roof of the Hôtel Dieu, or the grandiose finale near the Pont-Neuf.

The Minotaur and the Spider return to the streets of Toulouse

As in 2018, this great Street show will be designed as a real urban operamixing monumental machines and orchestral music. It is the composer Mino Malan — a great accomplice of François Delarozière — who will be at the helm.

For this second new opus, two characters well known to the people of Toulouse will once again be in the spotlight: Asterion, the Minotaur and Ariane, the giant Spider… These two giant creatures will once again wander through downtown Toulouse during this street show, as was the case in 2018.

There will be a third machine

But François Delarozière has reserved a big surprise to the people of Toulouse! Because there will indeed be a third machine during this new street show!

This will even be the first time in the history of the Compagnie La Machine that a show will be staged three giant creatures ! A character that could even be the key of this new story conceived by François Delarozière.

“The Guardian of Darkness”, a brand new 38-ton machine

The identity of this new machine was just revealed during a press conference given at the Capitol, Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

But the name of the future show was already a big clue as to the identity of this new machine. Because this second opus will be called “The Gate of Darkness”. Now, the La Machine Company recently designed a creature called “The Guardian of Darkness”.

So this is this machine of ten meters high and of 38 tonsa chimera of steel and wood with the face of a woman and the body of a scorpion, who will wander with the Minotaur et the spider in the streets of Toulouse, as announced by Jean-Luc Moudenc and François Delarozière this Tuesday morning.

” She will at the center of the plot“It’s a Cerberus, a character who will decide to give you the right to go to hell. She is also there to go and get the damned souls and take them to hell,” explained François Delarozière, who specified that the construction of this machine took three and a half years.

More than a million spectators expected

Designed in the workshops of La Machine in Nantes, The Guardian of Darkness also made its first public outing from Thursday June 27 to Sunday June 30, during the festival Hellfest in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique).

Commissioned and funded by the organizers of the Hellfest (who spent nearly 4 million euros to buy it), this machine – which, like the Minotaur, can transport passengers – should in principle, eventually, be permanently installed on the festival site, in Clisson.

But she will do so a hook via Toulouse at the end of 2024… for a show that promises to be grandiose. More than a million spectators are expected for this second opus.

^{With David Saint-Sernin}

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to My News.