"A tall giraffe tells an enthralling tale"

This co-production with Mali’s Sogolon company is a richly textured, highly entertaining, and sometimes touching, showcase of puppetry excellence. The puppets certainly take centre stage — eliciting gasps of surprise and spontaneous bursts of applause as they make their first appearances — but not at the expense of the production as a whole.

Based on actual historical events, it tells the story of a giraffe sent to the King of France, Charles X, by the Pasha of Egypt in the late 1820s. The giving of ‘tall horses’ as diplomatic gifts was a long-held African tradition — but, without Fedex, fraught with administrative nightmares. It’s this 7000km trip, first by ship and then by land through France, that forms the core of the narrative, culminating in the animal’s frenzied reception by the Parisian crowds. No giraffe had been seen in Europe since the Renaissance and the enlightened French couldn’t get enough of the African creature, which is even said to have inspired the Eiffel Tower.

Full Article : iafrica.com