:00:10. > :00:15.Hello and welcome to Hull, the UK's City of Culture for 2017.
:00:16. > :00:29.A 365 day celebration of all things arty and culture.
:00:30. > :00:32.We are at Hull Truck Theatre where the Royal Shakespeare Company
:00:33. > :00:34.have upped sticks from their home in Stratford-upon-Avon to come
:00:35. > :00:37.here and on the world premiere of a brand-new play.
:00:38. > :00:39.Called The Hypocrite, about the English Civil War.
:00:40. > :00:41.We will take you behind the scenes with actors
:00:42. > :00:46.We will find out why this 75 metre long turbine blade has landed
:00:47. > :00:49.And take a look at the tiny footprints making a giant
:00:50. > :01:13.artwork celebrating life, birth and memory.
:01:14. > :01:21.As you can see there is already quite a buzz at Hull Truck Theatre.
:01:22. > :01:24.But then again it's not everyday that the RSC up sticks and move
:01:25. > :01:33.But then again it's not a usual year for Hull, we are the UK City
:01:34. > :01:37.I'm the arts and culture correspondent for the BBC in Hull.
:01:38. > :01:41.I'm the face of Hull, chosen by the BBC to tell the world
:01:42. > :01:43.about the City of Culture, after I auditioned here.
:01:44. > :01:46.You can see the stage, it's just down there,
:01:47. > :01:52.It's three months since Kofi was over there
:01:53. > :01:58.But if, unlike him, you weren't here in Hull for the start of 2017,
:01:59. > :02:15.It was in with a bang on January 1st with three and a half tonnes
:02:16. > :02:17.of fireworks over the Humber and a spectacular light display
:02:18. > :02:21.What do you think to the unbelievable display?
:02:22. > :02:42.I've got family in Canada and they are watching it live now.
:02:43. > :02:45.I'm from London and if this was in London, I can't find
:02:46. > :02:46.the words to explain the reaction you'd get.
:02:47. > :02:48.It's amazing. Hurray!
:02:49. > :02:52.Really moving, very emotional. Yeah.
:02:53. > :02:54.I'm from Brazil and spent a couple of years in Copacabana
:02:55. > :02:57.and to be honest this is the same quality here.
:02:58. > :02:59.This was amazing. I'm so proud of Hull.
:03:00. > :03:04.I just think it will launch a really positive year.
:03:05. > :03:11.If that opening looked very much to Hull's past,
:03:12. > :03:13.the next spectacle to grace the city centre looked
:03:14. > :03:17.Looking at Hull's place in the world's industry of building
:03:18. > :03:28.Despite what you're thinking, what you're looking at didn't
:03:29. > :03:33.Since January this monumental piece of art has taken up residence
:03:34. > :03:40.It's an incredible 75 metres long and to put
:03:41. > :03:43.that into perspective, I'm about six foot, so I would fit
:03:44. > :03:50.So if the blade didn't come from outer space,
:03:51. > :03:57.The answer is very slowly and very carefully in
:03:58. > :04:11.Here, you can see it making its way through the city centre.
:04:12. > :04:14.Its journey began in the Siemens factory in Hull's Alexandra Dock.
:04:15. > :04:17.They make a lot of wind turbine blades are usually they end up out
:04:18. > :04:20.at sea and not in the centre of a city.
:04:21. > :04:24.I'm going to take my daughter who is eight years old and let
:04:25. > :04:28.Because we are in the unique position where we can see these
:04:29. > :04:30.blades up close and personal and even touch them,
:04:31. > :04:33.which blew my mind, which it did the first time
:04:34. > :04:37.It takes weeks to make every single blade.
:04:38. > :04:39.The result is this incredible handmade object, somewhere
:04:40. > :04:42.between a whale bone and the wing of a giant robotic bird.
:04:43. > :04:49.What we are asking, by declaring it to be an art object,
:04:50. > :04:54.is to challenge and make people think about not only
:04:55. > :04:57.the values that it represents, but what it means to place this kind
:04:58. > :04:59.of production into the heart of the city.
:05:00. > :05:01.It doesn't feel like a wind turbine blade here.
:05:02. > :05:04.When you are looking at it like this, it feels
:05:05. > :05:07.like it is something organic, feels like a bone.
:05:08. > :05:11.That's how the blade was made, which brings us to the small matter
:05:12. > :05:14.of transporting it here to the very centre of Hull, from a factory three
:05:15. > :05:20.It all started in the middle of the night to try
:05:21. > :05:28.The blade is so big no normal lorry can carry it,
:05:29. > :05:32.so a specialist haulage team used remote-controlled vehicles.
:05:33. > :05:36.One of the main roads into the city was closed and 50 pieces
:05:37. > :05:38.of street furniture, lamp post and traffic lights, had
:05:39. > :05:45.As it got near the square, there was a seriously
:05:46. > :05:47.tricky 3-point turn, not easy when you are
:05:48. > :05:50.manoeuvring the equivalent of eight buses end to end.
:05:51. > :05:53.By dawn it had finally arrived in the square.
:05:54. > :05:57.And as the city woke up on the 8th of January 2017,
:05:58. > :06:00.there was just one job left to do, the very delicate task
:06:01. > :06:06.of lowering the blade into position on to two plinths.
:06:07. > :06:09.Fortunately the blade did make it safely into Queen Victoria Square
:06:10. > :06:18.It's something that you won't see anywhere else.
:06:19. > :06:22.I'm surprised there's no sign saying mind your head.
:06:23. > :06:24.Would you consider it a piece of art?
:06:25. > :06:33.Everything can be art, really, it really depends
:06:34. > :06:38.It is like art but then it is used for a job.
:06:39. > :06:50.Some people feel it's a feat of great engineering and not art.
:06:51. > :06:52.Some people think it's because it's so beautiful and unique.
:06:53. > :06:55.I think it's amazing because it's getting people engaged and talking
:06:56. > :06:59.But what ever you think about it, you can't deny that it
:07:00. > :07:02.And walking through the city centre in any direction,
:07:03. > :07:13.But you have to be quick if you want to see the blade
:07:14. > :07:19.because it's only going to be here until the 18th of March.
:07:20. > :07:22.Until then, it's going out the way that it came in.
:07:23. > :07:25.But is not just about what's great in Hull,
:07:26. > :07:29.this is a UK wide arts festival, showcasing the best in the world.
:07:30. > :07:31.The arrival of an Italian masterpiece has caused
:07:32. > :07:35.a stir in the city centre but you are the art expert and I'm
:07:36. > :07:45.Hull's Ferens Art Gallery has always prided itself on its collection
:07:46. > :07:54.And for 2017 it wanted to raise its game and after spending
:07:55. > :07:57.millions on refurbishment it needed a new superstar exhibit to match.
:07:58. > :08:01.It's not the biggest work of art and it's far
:08:02. > :08:03.from the most expensive, but Christ Between Saints Paul and
:08:04. > :08:13.Because it's the only painting by Pietro Lorenzetti in the UK.
:08:14. > :08:20.Not much of his work still exists in its original form, this is a
:08:21. > :08:26.fragment of a much larger altarpiece, but when they bought it
:08:27. > :08:32.here for more than five and pounds in 2012 it's set a world record for
:08:33. > :08:38.the artist -- ?5 million. But time had not been kind to this tiny work
:08:39. > :08:41.of art, buried under varnish, dirt and clumsy repairs. So in 2013 the
:08:42. > :08:45.painting was sent to the National Gallery in London to be worked on by
:08:46. > :08:51.one of the world's best restoration teams. Repairs were done a long time
:08:52. > :08:57.ago using gold coloured bronze, powder, as paint, and that has
:08:58. > :09:04.discoloured enormously into a kind of slimy green and black. Smears
:09:05. > :09:09.across much of the background. St Peter was quite buried under layers
:09:10. > :09:16.of varnish. The fact that Paul is wearing these kind of wonderful
:09:17. > :09:21.lilac and mustard robes when he arrived, he was looking like a
:09:22. > :09:32.Francesca and Mike, he looked very Brownie grey -- Franciscan monk. You
:09:33. > :09:35.might be thinking who is Lorenzetti? He is not grow well known in this
:09:36. > :09:38.country, but one of the biggest developments in the history of art
:09:39. > :09:50.might never have happened without him. Lorenzetti worked as a painter
:09:51. > :09:53.in 14th century Italy and in the Tuscan city of Siena and was
:09:54. > :09:57.probably taught in the workshop of this late medieval master, but in a
:09:58. > :10:00.time when religion dominated art, they started to paint their
:10:01. > :10:05.spiritual figures in a more human, more naturalistic style, with more
:10:06. > :10:10.perspective, something that paved the way for world-famous artists
:10:11. > :10:15.like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, to develop in the
:10:16. > :10:19.Renaissance. Lorenzetti along with a few others stands at the beginning
:10:20. > :10:22.of this new movement which developed since the Renaissance which is so
:10:23. > :10:29.important for the development of art throughout Europe so we're looking
:10:30. > :10:32.at a art Tulisa -- piece of art which is at the start of this
:10:33. > :10:37.approach, which is concerned with natural appearances and human
:10:38. > :10:42.psychology. Something that already is talking to us in a language we
:10:43. > :10:47.can understand. But restoring the painting was a huge task, the
:10:48. > :10:52.scientists had to remove a virtually insoluble crust of the same mineral
:10:53. > :10:58.founding gallstones to try to get the Lorenzetti back to how the
:10:59. > :11:02.painting himself would have seen it. I think we are closer, but the
:11:03. > :11:08.picture has changed colours and faded and things have happened which
:11:09. > :11:15.can't be reversed, but there is less between you and Lorenzetti then
:11:16. > :11:20.there was. In January this year, after I'm told hours of work, the
:11:21. > :11:28.Lorenzetti came home to Hull and was on failed to great fanfare. On show
:11:29. > :11:31.alongside loans on the National Gallery, the 700-year-old artwork
:11:32. > :11:36.was seen by around 60,000 people in the first month alone. Lorenzetti
:11:37. > :11:39.has been a big draw for people because it is so different to what
:11:40. > :11:46.we have in the collection, it is amazing to have this seven -- 700
:11:47. > :11:50.year artwork here, people are intrigued to see how it has survived
:11:51. > :11:54.and made it here to the gallery. It might be small but this painting has
:11:55. > :12:01.become a mighty attraction. And a treasure for the nation.
:12:02. > :12:10.Still to come on Britain's City of Culture, Alex posted look behind the
:12:11. > :12:15.scenes of the RSC show The Hypocrite -- our explosive look. And we look
:12:16. > :12:22.at the giant artwork which is reflecting life, birth and memory in
:12:23. > :12:26.Hull in 2017. But first this is my guide to the best of the rest and
:12:27. > :12:32.some highlights to look forward to. The installation of coloured lights
:12:33. > :12:36.was the first series of 60 committee based projects. I think it is
:12:37. > :12:41.brilliant. It makes you feel really good that you are part of the City
:12:42. > :12:47.of Culture. Hollywood icons has taken the city by storm. The artist
:12:48. > :12:49.photographed members of the public re-enacting their favourite film
:12:50. > :12:56.poses in different parts of the city. Humber Street Gallery is a
:12:57. > :13:00.brand-new arts -based near Hull Marina, home to contemporary art
:13:01. > :13:06.including the provocative and challenging transmission exhibition.
:13:07. > :13:09.Hot lot was exactly what it said on the ticket, audiences paid ?5 but
:13:10. > :13:16.did not know what they would see on the event started. Anything from
:13:17. > :13:25.spoken word to film. These tracks, these unbelievable streets. I'm not
:13:26. > :13:30.100% on spoken word, but some of the acts have been unbelievable. So
:13:31. > :13:42.engaging and funny. Potluck. Fantastic. Still to come, flood, an
:13:43. > :13:49.ethics during which includes a word performance, online elements and a
:13:50. > :13:51.BBC broadcast -- an epic. And a circus show taking place in the
:13:52. > :13:59.General Cemetery, and the Royal Ballet will help reopen a theatre
:14:00. > :14:10.after a transformation with a special gala performance. The actors
:14:11. > :14:13.are about to go on stage for the opening weekend of The Hypocrite.
:14:14. > :14:19.It's a play that brings together the Welsh expect company and Hull's
:14:20. > :14:27.playwright Richard Bean who is best known for one man, to governors. It
:14:28. > :14:34.is a swashbuckling farce about the dish Civil War. We have been looking
:14:35. > :14:39.at the rehearsals from the start. In January the Royal Shakespeare
:14:40. > :14:45.Company found a new temporary home in Hull, a disused church on a
:14:46. > :14:53.housing estate. The English Civil War starts now. Who will make the
:14:54. > :14:58.first advance? It's a play which is Hull through and through, written by
:14:59. > :15:03.a playwright from Hull, it is being produced here and is based on a key
:15:04. > :15:11.moment in Hull's past. This is a very historic spot for Hull. The
:15:12. > :15:17.inspiration for your play. In 1642 Hull was a town, very secure
:15:18. > :15:20.fortress town, and Sir John Holland stood on the Beverly gave low wall
:15:21. > :15:25.and he spoke directly to the king and he refused him entry at that
:15:26. > :15:32.moment. He became treacherous and a moment and would be executed. The
:15:33. > :15:39.writer Richard Bean started researching his lead character more
:15:40. > :15:44.than two years ago. But rather than a historical drama he has turned the
:15:45. > :15:47.events of 1642 into a comedy. I thought I would be doing the
:15:48. > :15:56.politics, but when I started reading all of this, these original papers,
:15:57. > :16:01.it's like reading a farce, a French farce. That final thing where the
:16:02. > :16:07.governor of the town is running on his own chaste, I'm not going to say
:16:08. > :16:13.Benny hill. I could see that in your eyes. Richard Bean had found his
:16:14. > :16:21.central character. And being claimed another Yorkshireman. TV and film
:16:22. > :16:24.store mark Addy. I've spent the last couple of days running around inside
:16:25. > :16:35.a cardboard box which represents a commode. For reasons that are too
:16:36. > :16:47.complex to explain, but yes, farce is ultimately a physical form.
:16:48. > :16:51.Richard Bean's probably our best comedy writer at the moment.
:16:52. > :16:59.Especially in terms of farce. He can ride a farce like nobody else. Be
:17:00. > :17:03.more careful next time. While the actors rehearse, work started on the
:17:04. > :17:09.project of building the sets. The largest they have ever made at this
:17:10. > :17:11.bitter. Backstage they are even converting offices into dressing
:17:12. > :17:19.rooms to make stage for the 21 strong cast. The play is filled with
:17:20. > :17:24.tricks and illusions. From a sword through the neck to Mark Addy being
:17:25. > :17:27.beheaded on stage. The man in charge of pulling it off work on behalf of
:17:28. > :17:32.Potter play in London, and he says this show is proving just as tough.
:17:33. > :17:36.You have people watching from three different sides so where are
:17:37. > :17:39.sometimes you can do things with magic and you don't want people to
:17:40. > :17:43.be able to see from the size, with this, you have got to think about
:17:44. > :17:47.those things because everyone is up close and they are closer than in a
:17:48. > :17:52.conventional theatre. At one point there is a sword which goes through
:17:53. > :17:57.a neck. This is a solid thing. That is quite a feat. That is the
:17:58. > :18:05.challenge. Solid sword through a neck, but we are doing it. Tell us
:18:06. > :18:09.how. I can't, it's magic. Big stars and a big cast and a big-name
:18:10. > :18:16.Theatre Company, creating the biggest theatrical moment of 2017 so
:18:17. > :18:22.far. And one other stars Caroline Quentin. Best known for TV show
:18:23. > :18:27.member having badly but alighted to be taken to the stage for this play.
:18:28. > :18:34.Apart from paying the bills, why did you want to take this role? I was
:18:35. > :18:39.sent the script by Richard Bean and everyone knows he's a great
:18:40. > :18:44.playwright and I had worked with him on a workshop years ago and I really
:18:45. > :18:49.liked him as a man and then I went to see one man, to governors, and I
:18:50. > :18:53.thought, yes, he relies what he's doing. My agent said you have been
:18:54. > :18:59.sent a play, I read five pages, I was with my husband, and I said,
:19:00. > :19:05.I've got to do this play. I couldn't bear the thought of somebody else
:19:06. > :19:09.playing Lady Sarah before I did. I really glad I'm doing it first. Even
:19:10. > :19:16.though it means living away from home for three months. I am a long
:19:17. > :19:22.way from home. I live in Devon. If you live in London or Manchester is
:19:23. > :19:27.not such a huge Jodie, but it is a long way from the South West to
:19:28. > :19:30.hear. -- huge journey. The really great piece of work like this, they
:19:31. > :19:35.don't come along very often, they genuinely don't. It has been an
:19:36. > :19:37.amazing response, the tickets have been the fastest selling in the
:19:38. > :19:41.history of this theatre in as Karen location. Do you feel any pressure
:19:42. > :19:47.knowing that so many people are going to be watching? Brilliantly
:19:48. > :19:51.for me, it was sold out before I was connected with it. I feel no
:19:52. > :19:56.pressure at all, but actually the people of Hull, and I know it will
:19:57. > :20:01.have a longer life, this play, but the people of Hull are going to love
:20:02. > :20:05.this play. Member having badly is what you are best known for and
:20:06. > :20:12.given a cold feet as had a revival, has anyone asked you to do that
:20:13. > :20:18.again? Not yet. There is always talk about that coming back, it is one of
:20:19. > :20:25.the most asked questions, really. I've never heard of there being a
:20:26. > :20:33.revival. But with cold feet coming back, I've worked with Mark, as
:20:34. > :20:37.well. Anything is possible. You just don't know in this game. You Vydra
:20:38. > :20:42.don't know what you're going be doing next. That's what's great
:20:43. > :20:47.about it -- you really. How much are you looking forward to opening
:20:48. > :20:55.night? It is very nerve-racking. It gets worse. The older you get. You
:20:56. > :21:03.don't remember lines as well. It's nerve-racking. It is nerve-racking.
:21:04. > :21:08.But I'm really looking forward to the people of Hull seeing this play.
:21:09. > :21:15.Because they will, there's so much great stuff in it, they... Some of
:21:16. > :21:23.the jokes, they are so deeply entrenched in the culture here. They
:21:24. > :21:27.will love it. They will love it. Caroline Quentin might be one of the
:21:28. > :21:30.big names coming to the City of Culture, but at the heart of this is
:21:31. > :21:35.the notion that art can transform lives and give something back to a
:21:36. > :21:40.community. As part that the City of Culture had given at 60 to community
:21:41. > :21:43.groups, or to anyone who has had a good idea, really, and one of those
:21:44. > :21:48.people was a midwife from the maternity hospital. Kate has been to
:21:49. > :21:58.meet her and some of the newest arrivals in Hull in 2017. At Hull
:21:59. > :22:02.women and Children's Hospital thousands of babies are born every
:22:03. > :22:11.year and for those born in 2017 there's a chance to be part of a
:22:12. > :22:15.very special art project. It is time to do the baby's footprint. It
:22:16. > :22:21.doesn't hurt the baby but it does make them cry. This morning at four
:22:22. > :22:29.hours old, baby Lana is making her mark on history. There we go. I'm
:22:30. > :22:35.very proud. It makes it more exciting and more magical. Something
:22:36. > :22:41.to look back on, definitely. It's all the idea of midwife Sally Ward.
:22:42. > :22:45.When I found out Hull was going to be the City of Culture I thought,
:22:46. > :22:48.what better idea than to start right at the beginning of life. Babies
:22:49. > :22:52.will be born into the City of Culture and that is how we came up
:22:53. > :22:55.with the name of the project, it would be lovely to celebrate birth
:22:56. > :23:04.and do something special for the hospital. On an average between 15
:23:05. > :23:07.and 20 babies born in this hospital every day, 400 footprints being
:23:08. > :23:11.taken by these midwives every month, and by the end of 2017 they expect
:23:12. > :23:18.to have a collection of more than five and a half thousand footprints.
:23:19. > :23:25.The idea is that we scanned these feet and this is all of January.
:23:26. > :23:28.281. Each scan is based on a piece of artwork and this is generated
:23:29. > :23:34.here, and we go on to build up the piece of artwork. Some are bigger
:23:35. > :23:38.than others? Yes, there are a couple of spikes in babies being born, one
:23:39. > :23:44.around March and one around September, I've been told. You might
:23:45. > :23:50.think why that might be. What were people doing Minos before. Yes, say,
:23:51. > :23:54.at Christmas. The size of the footprints vary from large babies to
:23:55. > :23:58.the tiny Prince of those which haven't survived. We felt it was
:23:59. > :24:02.important that it was not just a celebration of both, but also
:24:03. > :24:08.remembrance, and we want all babies to be included for 2017, so mums
:24:09. > :24:11.have a choice if they want their babies to be included, and even if
:24:12. > :24:17.they have been stillborn we will still do that footprint and that
:24:18. > :24:22.will go on the artwork. We are going to stump this on the piece of paper.
:24:23. > :24:27.Back at the hospital baby Theo is the latest to join the born in the
:24:28. > :24:30.City of Culture project. Conceived through IVF and born prematurely he
:24:31. > :24:35.is now thriving and his parents Kate and Becky say they are thrilled he
:24:36. > :24:41.is taking part. He has such big feet, as well. He is absolutely
:24:42. > :24:46.beautiful. They could not wish for anything better. It is great that he
:24:47. > :24:51.was born in 2017 and the little footprint is a great idea. It will
:24:52. > :24:59.be a gorgeous tribute to him and a lovely tribute to the staff, as
:25:00. > :25:04.well. That's all from the whole truck Theatre and the City of
:25:05. > :25:08.Culture. Plenty to come, next time we will be speaking to battling
:25:09. > :25:14.Barbra, she was the world's first women's boxing champion. And we'll
:25:15. > :25:19.be looking at the Symphony forward macro, composed by Sir Karl Jenkins.
:25:20. > :25:25.If you can't hold out until the spin, head over to the website, for
:25:26. > :25:51.Hull 2017. Goodbye. See you soon. Good evening, there is a disturbed
:25:52. > :25:53.look to the weather in the next few days. We will see a fair share of
:25:54. > :25:55.rain and many