photo by the-northshore

La Princess is the latest steampunky spectacle from the geniuses at La Machine and Artichoke - who created the Telectroscope earlier this year and produced The Sultan's Elephant with Royal de Luxe in 2006.Something unforgettable is happening in Liverpool as a highlight of the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations. Vast in scale and spectacular in execution, this breathtaking new commission from La Machine will spin a tale so magical that an entire city will fall under its spell. Just as The Sultan's Elephant stopped London in its tracks in 2006, so this three-day adventure will unfold against the landmarks of a great city, stopping the traffic and captivating everyone who sees it. Prepare to be amazed by a show that will make you believe in the impossible.

...and the story unfolds. Yesterday commuters arrived at Lime Street to find a gigantic mechanical spider clinging to a derelict building next to the station. A group of French specialist researchers announced that they had been observing the creature, apparently made of steel and wood and a thousand times the size of anything in nature, for weeks. It appears to be female, around 13m tall, and has been dubbed 'La Princesse' by the team. The scientists believe the creature may be about to hibernate, and are attempting to prevent it falling into an inert state, as they are concerned at the potentially catastrophic results of the spider laying up to 1000 eggs. Scientists have therefore removed the spider from the building and taken it to a research base established at the ACC, at Albert Dock in Liverpool. On Friday 5th September it is expected that they will attempt to wake it, under controlled conditions, at 11:30am. Watch this space as the story continues...