This sounds like fun…
Antony Gormley’s statues at Crosby beach are not just cast iron…they are now cast ‘members’ in a nativity play with a difference.
Alongside the starring statues is a real live camel called Callum, a genuine new born babe plus a mini flock of real sheep. Callum was rejected by his mother when he was a baby camel at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Bristol and was looked after by the staff – one animal manager even slept the first few nights in the stable with him! Now he is visiting Liverpool just in time for Christmas and learning to walk on sand for the first time.
There will be four performances, all free, on Crosby Beach on Friday 16 December and Saturday 17 December, starting at 4pm and 6pm on both days. Warm clothing and suitable footwear is essential for all audience members as the nativity is promenade theatre and they will be outside and walking.
The Other Place figures will take the roles of a courtier of a Chinese wise man, Herod’s adviser (Herod is a Texan Methodist minister on a cultural exchange) and the angel Gabriel. And there are three groups of wise men, with asylum seekers from Iran and community volunteers from Nigeria and China. Local churches have banded together with a local shed maker donating a stable and a host of technical support, plus help from the fire service, local councils and the coastguard.
Organiser Annie Spiers said: “It’s hard to decide who is the star of the show here, with Callum the camel making his debut on sand and baby George just days old. Even Joseph (Paul Masterston) is a real carpenter, so we’ve made the whole show as realistic as possible, with artistic licence when it comes to the three wise men, using Antony Gormley wonderful artworks”.