Danny Boyle Reveals Olympic Opening Ceremony Details

Variety reports that Danny Boyle, artistic director for the Opening Ceremonies of this summer's Olympic Games has revealed details of the extravaganza. According to the report, the filmmaker intends to transform the Olympic Stadium into what he calls "Green and Pleasant" described as "an idealized version of the British countryside, a pastoral scene, complete with farm animals and recreations of British landmarks like Glastonbury Tor in the West of England." The opening ceremony will take place on July 27.

Boyle hopes to create "a picture of ourselves as a nation," in his three-hour production which is based on William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest.' He explained to the BBC that the show will include nurses from Blighty's National Health Service because, "The best way to tell that story is through working with real people." BBC's Drama Department is expected to create two short films for the event.

BBC's director of London 2012, Roger Mosey,commented, "Danny Boyle will be using film and other media to supplement the action in the stadium and pretty much the first thing viewers globally will see is a piece of film made by BBC Drama." He added, "The BBC will be involved in the ceremony in other supporting roles too because as the national broadcaster we think it's right that we should support the U.K.'s representation of itself -- and, quite simply, we want this to be a great program for British viewers to watch along with the rest of the world."

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