Putting the ‘Wow!’ in Urban Opera: Toulouse’s Bizarre Encounter with a Minotaur and a Scorpion Woman
Well, well, well—what do we have here? Toulouse really knows how to throw a party! A minotaur wrestling with the existential problems of a scorpion woman in a stunning urban opera; it’s like someone took a big bag of mythology, shook it up, and tossed it into the very heart of France. That’s right, folks! You’ve got giant creatures emerging from the woodwork—LITERALLY—with Lilith, the gigantic scorpion woman, stealing the show, and Asterion, the minotaur, looming large with a weighty presence that’s enough to make even the hardest of skeptics gasp!
A Scorpion Woman Named Lilith? Sounds Like a Saturday Night in Toulouse!
Picture it: the cobblestones of Toulouse filled with curious onlookers while Lilith, the breathtaking scorpion woman, showcases impressive horns, and a body that’s probably giving the best wooden sculptors of our time endless headaches. And can we take a moment to applaud the mother holding her child up? Talk about parental dedication! She holds her young son up to witness this larger-than-life spectacle, while the poor kid is probably just hoping it doesn’t start raining giant scorpion goo. Talk about an introduction to the natural world!
Emotions Running High: A City Enchanted or the Next Horror Flick?
Amidst the toils and troubles of city life, François Delarozière and his street theater brigade at La Machine crafted an evening designed to make everyone feel like children again—minus the sky-high sugar rush, of course! Lilith’s smoky nostrils billow steam like she’s just completed a grueling workout session, and she’s determined to find Asterion, the slumbering minotaur disguised as an extraordinarily gargantuan guardian of the Pink City. Judging by the reactions—some faces serene and enchanted, others lined with terror like they’d just watched a horror movie that didn’t have enough popcorn—it’s unclear whether Toulouse was enchanted or in the grips of a giant arthropod-induced nightmare!
The Audience: From Amazement to Controversy
Now, if you thought a minotaur lumbering through the streets might upset the local archbishop, you’d be right! There were some eyebrows raised, not just by the youngsters, but by the clergy as well. The Archbishop of Toulouse called the production “dark” and accused it of dabbling with the devil, or at least his cousin. But let’s face it: who wouldn’t want a dramatic performance featuring mythical creatures to liven up the autumn chill? If the crow of a scorpion woman and the thud of a minotaur doesn’t bring you a bit of joy, I’d say you might need to check your pulse!
A Dance Like No Other
As Lilith approached the Place du Capitole, what ensued was nothing short of a whimsical dance involving two massive performers who likely struggled to coordinate their schedules. Spoiler alert: it’s tough to find a minotaur in a crowded space! As the crowd snapped photos with smartphones—because you just can’t share enough footage of a giant scorpion to your Instagram followers—the musicians on the town hall balcony set the stage for a perilous waltz that could have sent both actors into a panic. Imagine the stagehands clinging for dear life as these colossi began a choreography that could rival even the most exuberant of prom dances! Nobody gets left behind when Lilith and Asterion are involved, I suppose.
Final Curtain Call or More to Come?
So what’s the takeaway from this extravaganza? Perhaps it’s as simple as this: Sometimes the world needs a good dose of fantasy to remind us that life isn’t just about deadlines and traffic jams; it’s also about stepping outside and witnessing the obscure, the whimsical, and possibly the terrifying! So, for those in Toulouse who experienced this slinky mingling of myth, we salute you! You’re now part of an unforgettable tapestry of urban theater where the lines blur between the living and the legendary.
With about a million fans expected to flock to the mania—just like they did in 2018—one can only wonder what La Machine will conjure up next. Will it be a dinosaur with a penchant for existential debates, or perhaps a cerberus that gives relationship advice? Only time, and a dash of creativity, will tell. Until then, my friends, let’s keep the myth alive and the streets buzzing!
AFP Videos – France
A minotaur and a scorpion woman in Toulouse for a grand urban opera
Impressive horns, smoking nostrils, delicately sculpted wooden torso, Lilith, the giant scorpion woman of the urban opera designed by the street theater company La Machine, contemplates the compact crowd on Saturday in old Toulouse.”She is tall, eh?”, whispers a mother to her young son, whom she holds at arm’s length so that he can see Lilith bat her eyelashes and come back to life on Saturday morning. Not far from there, a little girl with blond hair displays a worried look in the face of this monster which suddenly comes alive to a soundtrack of groans and murmurs. One might believe that the appearance of a giant scorpion would empty the streets of Toulouse but the curious flock by the thousands on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to admire Lilith, the new mythical protagonist of The Machine. With dark gray-green scorpion legs bristling with small spikes, Lilith seems to be looking for Asterion the minotaur, a colossus weighing 47 tonnes and 14 m tall who, since the first opus of this opera, in 2018, has become the guardian of the Pink City. His awakening, Friday evening, marked the first act of this show, “The Gate of Darkness”, during which the giant will attempt to “open a passage to the beyond” to subjugate new “damned souls” and thus extend its power, according to the booklet accompanying this performance, distributed widely and available via QR code.- Aiguillon -D’un slow and majestic pace, Lilith reaches the Place du Capitole, a few hundred meters away, accompanied by hundreds of people, many of them children, in a form of chase backwards to better admire the spectacle. A few lucky ones take advantage of the passage of the immense machine to the balconies of their accommodations, but the machinists seem to take great pleasure in directing in their direction the plumes of steam that Lilith propels through her nostrils or her scorpion sting. With the “Door of Darkness”, the director of La Machine François Delarozière wanted to “make the city enchanted, make the city marvelous”, he told AFP a few days earlier. Mission accomplished, judging by the astonished faces in the autumn cool. In 2018, the first opus brought together 800,000 people. This time the organizers are expecting a million. On Friday, some 100,000 curious people, according to the town hall, have already come to admire the machines. “I simply want to leave a lifelong memory, a mark in the mind. I like the public to rediscover this child’s gaze. , a moment when we forget prejudices, beliefs and find ourselves faced with an emotion which is a little total and in the public space”, explains François Delarozière. “Fortunately the bishops have consecrated us, eh?”, says , mockingly, a woman with curly hair and blue eyes. The approach to the event was in fact marked by a controversy fueled in particular by the Archbishop of Toulouse, who denounced a “dark” spectacle accompanied by “a symbolic satanic”.- Perilous dance -At the bend of a street in the city center, closed to traffic on the occasion of this flagship event in the cultural programming of the Toulouse metropolis, which financed the project for a total cost of 4 .7 million euros, Lilith finally emerges on the Place du Capitole, where Asterion still sleeps. To the rhythm set by the musicians installed on the balcony of the town hall, sometimes captivating, sometimes twirling, the scorpion-woman s The minotaur slowly approaches, circling the square in front of thousands of gazes and smartphones immortalizing the scene. Asterion, who has come to protect the city, cannot resist the spell cast upon him by Lilith. The two immense machines begin a perilous dance for the numerous stagehands clinging to these colossal structures of wood and steel, before separating and leaving in two separate streets, to thunderous applause and cheers.The first big scene of Act II of “Dark Gate” ends. Spectators disperse before the rest of the festivities, which will last until the end on Sunday evening.vgr/chv/gvy
