Stars lend their voices to statues
Passers-by can swipe their mobile phones on a nearby tag to make 35 sculptures in London and Manchester speak for a new art project.
Other stars who have delivered speeches or readings include Jeremy Paxman, Simon Russell Beale, Hugh Dennis and Jenna Coleman.
Patrick, who gives a voice to the Unknown Soldier at Paddington station, said: “It brings a sense of intimacy and personality to the statues that surround us all.”
Jeremy reads from his own writings about the MP and radical John Wilkes, Hugh breathes life into a likeness of Brunel and Helen speaks about Dick Whittington’s cat.
Radio 4′s Just A Minute host Nicholas Parsons animates Samuel Johnson’s cat, Hodge, while Jenna voices a statue of a girl reading at Manchester Central Library.
The Talking Statues project has been created by Sing London, a non-profit arts organisation which aims to lift the nation’s spirits and has previously provided street pianos and ping-pong tables in public places.
Creative director Colette Hiller said: “Most of us hardly notice the statues around us – Talking Statues aims to change this.
“They may be cast in stone but their voices have been set free. We are privileged to have a stellar line-up of writers and actors who have put themselves in the shoes – or in some cases the paws – of these statues.”
