Central London was overrun on Friday afternoon not by tourists but by The Herds, a public art project featuring life-size puppet animals on a 20,000km journey from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle. The procession, which began in Soho Square and wound through Covent Garden to Somerset House, highlighted the displacement of animals and humans caused by the climate crisis.
The puppets, created by South African collective Ukwanda, included monkeys, gorillas, giraffes and other creatures. They paused at Seven Dials for a performance of 'When I Grow Up' from the musical Matilda, with lyrics about growing 'tall enough to reach the branches' resonating during London's heatwave. Actor Juliet Stevenson addressed the crowd, speaking of trees that 'lost their will' and animals 'screaming their pain'.
The fragile-looking cardboard puppets, with fraying material and exposed inner frames, required three puppeteers for each gorilla and three for each giraffe. The herd grew as passersby joined in, and the journey included performances by actor Chipo Chung and tenor Ryan Vaughan Davies, who sang from The Magic Flute from the balcony of the Royal Opera House.
The West End leg was co-curated by artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi and theatre director Joe Hill-Gibbins. A speech from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was performed by Zubin Varla and Hattie Morahan. The Herds will next travel north for the Manchester International Festival.
