A SNEAK preview of the opening ceremony for the London Olympics yesterday revealed a set looking more akin to Teletubbyland than a £27million sports spectacular.
A billion people around the world will tune in on July 27 to see Britain represented by a rather bizarre rural-idyll, complete with real animals and even a cricket match. All it seems to need are Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Laa-Laa from the TV series.
The 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew have been rehearsing day and night to make sure the event goes off as planned. The set, which will transform the stadium in Stratford, east London, was unveiled by Danny Boyle, artistic director.
Boyle, the filmmaker behind Trainspotting and the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, insisted it evoked the “green and pleasant land” of William Blake’s poem Jerusalem, an emblem of Englishness.
He added the ceremony would be a “reflection of part of our heritage” as well as a look to the future.
The audience of 62,000 in the stadium will see farmers tilling soil while animals graze. These include horses, cows, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, sheep and sheep dogs.
In addition to the cricket match, there will be picnicking families and a hill modelled on Glastonbury Tor in south-west England. Below the hill, spectators will fill a “mosh pit”, evoking the Glastonbury rock festival and other music events.
There are clouds that can produce real rain – while the meadow is surrounded by a parade ground for the 10,500 athletes taking part.
Boyle has nicknamed it the M25, but let’s hope that does not turn out to be too true to life.
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