The Festival Water Show thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

The Festival Water Show

Poster
1954 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Poster advertising The Festival Water Show at the Gaiety Theatre, Leith, 1954.

Jimmy Currie specialised in designing water effects for the theatre and producing spectacular aquatic stage shows. The Festival Water Show was presented in Leith to coincide with the 1954 Edinburgh Festival. In addition to the breathtaking special effects, including the celebrated ‘Waltzing Waters’, the audience was entertained by a full variety bill of singers, dancers and comics.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Festival Water Show (published title)
Materials and techniques
Printed ink on paper
Brief description
Hanging card advertising The Festival Water Show at the Gaiety Theatre, Leith, 1954
Physical description
Pictorial and typographic hanging card advertising The Festival Water Show at the Gaiety Theatre, Leith. Illustrated with a drawing of a Scottish landscape and, at left, a high waterfall, cascading down behind a pine tree, and, at the base a figure looking up at it.
Dimensions
  • Height: 52.2cm
  • Width: 30.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
Stamped with Theatre Museum, V.A.M. stamp.
Gallery label
Jimmy Currie specialised in designing water effects for the theatre and producing spectacular aquatic stage shows. The Festival Water Show was presented in Leith to coincide with the 1954 Edinburgh Festival. In addition to the breathtaking special effects, including the celebrated ‘Waltzing Waters’, the audience was entertained by a full variety bill of singers, dancers and comics.(16/08/2016)
Object history
Associated Production: The Festival Water Show. Devised by: Jimmy Currie. Performers: Frank Harvey, Alan McRitchie, Irene Dickson, Jock McNab, Douglas Harris, Betty Nolan, Doreen Stevens, Sylvia Stevens, Desmond Carroll, Pop, White and Stagger, Eight Gaiety Girls, Eight Brandon Girls, Fisherrow Fishwives Choir. Gaiety Theatre, Leith, Scotland. 24.8.1954. Performance category: spectacle. This production featured Jimmie Currie's Waterfalls of Scotland-see the great transformation from a peaceful glen with its bubbling burn (in six seconds) to a tumultous waterfall - 7,000 gallons of water per minute cascading on to the stage. Cost GBP10,000 to build.
Summary
Poster advertising The Festival Water Show at the Gaiety Theatre, Leith, 1954.

Jimmy Currie specialised in designing water effects for the theatre and producing spectacular aquatic stage shows. The Festival Water Show was presented in Leith to coincide with the 1954 Edinburgh Festival. In addition to the breathtaking special effects, including the celebrated ‘Waltzing Waters’, the audience was entertained by a full variety bill of singers, dancers and comics.
Collection
Accession number
S.3717-1995

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Record createdJuly 30, 2010
Record URL
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