Central London 4-7 May 2006
‘One of the most awesome, ingenious, superlative-exhausting things I have ever seen. Hard to imagine anyone who saw it saying anything nasty about the French. They should send it to Washington.’
Catherine Bennett, The Guardian, 11 May 2006
‘… A million people came to central London to enjoy a staggering spectacle that has changed the way we think about street theatre…The Sultan’s Elephant was a marvel.’
Susannah Clapp, The Observer, 14 May 2006
‘Ken Livingstone himself couldn’t have choreographed a better advertisement for the capital at play…The Sultan’s Elephant is to street theatre what a glacier is to ice cubes. A young hedge-fund manager said: “If this is coming out of my council tax, I don’t mind. Exactly the sort of thing we should be spending it on.”’
Emma Brockes, The Guardian, 6th May 2006
‘In London just last month, over a million people were captivated by the story of a little girl and a time-travelling elephant. Even now it seems incredible, but the spell that 'The Sultan's Elephant' cast on those who saw it meant that for those few precious hours, everyone involved felt a sense of kinship and connectedness. Part of a single life-changing experience. And all in a single city.’
Speech by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to the IFACCA World Summit on Arts & Culture, Newcastle Gateshead, June 2006
‘We are entranced. We have not stopped smiling or looking dreamy for days. If you didn’t know us better, you’d say we were in love… But this week we have rediscovered the child in our self and are a-quiver with enchantment. … Yes, yes, I know. But the truth is that I, like everyone else, came out to have a quick look and felt bound to stay to have a second, and a third… We watched as if in a dream.’
Howard Jacobson, Independent on Sunday, 13 May 2006
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