‘GRACEFUL’ MONSTERS
Long Ma, the horse-dragon, is one of the mechanical beasties that will be descending on downtown Ottawa next week for the international metal monster spectacle that is La Machine. The Citizen’s Blair Crawford got an early look at the show.
You’ll need two things to appreciate the magnificent La Machine creatures that will take over downtown Ottawa next week — a child’s willingness to believe and patience. Lots of patience.
Judging from a sneak peek at the machines Wednesday at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, the first will be easy. The machines — Long Ma, the horsedragon, and Kumo, the spider — are astonishing, a combined 80 tonnes of clanking, articulated steel, escaping steam and windowrattling roars.
Fully outstretched, Kumo can stretch 20 metres long and 13 metres high and takes more than a dozen people to operate. With her jaw-dropping facial animation, when fiery-eyed Long Ma catches you in her gaze, it’s hard not to be transfixed.
Guy Laflamme, the impresario behind the Ottawa 2017 celebrations, admits he had tears in his eyes when he saw the machines in action for the first time on Wednesday.
“They are so graceful. And when you make eye contact with those machines, they are live beings. Live beings with which we’ll develop a relationship over the next few days.”
That relationship begins Thursday, July 27, though the details of exactly what’s going to happen and where are being kept under wraps.
“This is like receiving a gift,” Laflamme said, translating from French the words of La Machine’s founder, François Delaroziére. “If we say what’s inside the box, it destroys the magic. What we want to achieve is to get residents and visitors to be part of this dream. Part of the story.”
Some residents will certainly be part of another story: a chaotic commute in downtown Ottawa.
“Let’s be honest. This is going to be a traffic nightmare,” said Insp. Murray Knowles of Ottawa police.
Fresh off the four-day downtown clampdown for Canada Day, the La Machine spectacle comes with a range of street closures that begin near the National Gallery on Wednesday, extend into the ByWard Market area on Thursday, westward Friday and Saturday to as far as O’Connor Street, and on Sunday west toward the Canadian War Museum, including the Portage and Chaudière bridges and a portion of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. You can see detailed maps of the road closures at ottawa.ca/en/la-machine#maps.
Police will play two roles in the event: first, in supporting the show with road closures and assisting the giant machines as they move around the city, and second, protecting public safety in the crowds of thousands the show is expected to attract. Police are ready to expand the street closures as necessary if the crowd gets too large, Knowles said.
At the same time, police will try to respect the “artistic atmosphere” of the performance, he said. The City of Ottawa’s advice? “Leave home early and expect delays.”
Portions of downtown will be made car- and bike-free during the performances. Laflamme encouraged people to take advantage of the OC Transpo iFamily DayPass on Saturday and Sunday, which lets a family of six ride all day for $10.25.
La Machine is a French streettheatre company founded by Delaroziére, an engineer by training whom Laflamme described as one of the most brilliant minds in France’s artistic world. Laflamme and the city have been planning La Machine’s four-day performance for more than two years.
Kumo and Long Ma, based on Chinese legends, were built for a performance in Beijing. This will be their first North American appearance.
The “audacious” street theatre production “is going to get rid of this erroneous perception that Ottawa is a traditional, conservative city,” Laflamme said. “They’re not going to New York or Toronto or Vancouver. They’re going to be in Ottawa.”
The spectacle, including the cost of security and road closures, cost the city $3.5 million. And Ottawa will play a starring role in the production. Laflamme said it was easy to convince La Machine to perform here once they saw Ottawa’s natural setting and historic architecture that will serve as their urban stage.
“This is not going to be a parade,” Laflamme said. “This is monumental street theatre. We want people to be actors. To be part of this big story and to become kids again.”
This is monumental street theatre. We want people to be actors. To be part of this big story and to become kids again.