00:30So, the Heroes Who Made Us does two things, I think.
00:45The first of which is celebrate and recognise the people who have made the tattoo.
00:49This is a global brand and experience for audiences that cannot be seen anywhere else
00:55and that is as a result of the work of hundreds, thousands of brilliant people over the years
00:59and we want to celebrate them, we want to celebrate our unique position, Edinburgh Castle,
01:05the city itself, the weather, the audience, all of these heroes that have made 75 years
01:10possible.
01:11But we also want to take a moment, especially in these difficult times, to celebrate and
01:15recognise the people who stitch together our communities into a society, the volunteers,
01:21the people who live their life and set a standard, an example of their behaviour.
01:25We want to lift them up, we want to say this is something that we're really proud to be
01:29associated with, to be championing.
01:31And so we're going to be doing that and you'll see lots of things between now and the show
01:34of how you can nominate your hero, how you can make sure that the values you think are
01:39important are part of the show that we're making.
01:41And that gets me really excited, it feels like a really good time to be doing that.
01:55I understand the work I make as a theatre director, that's what I've been trained in,
01:59it's what I've spent 20 years doing, and I make large-scale outdoor community plays and
02:03for me the Tattoo is the greatest large-scale outdoor community play, it's a community of
02:07communities, we bring groups and gangs of people from all over the world and part of
02:11that is about how you talk to them, how you rehearse them, how you behave with them, but
02:15part of it is also that theatrical sensibility.
02:18The show makes sense to me if I can have someone on the esplanade talking to the audience,
02:21I need a storyteller, so we're going to cast a great actor and they're going to be able
02:25to talk to the audience and make sense of the show and knit together all the bits of
02:28the show that people love into something really cohesive and emotionally engaging.
02:33So I think from the absolute start you'll go, ah, there's a slightly different flavour
02:37to this, but at the same time I start as the biggest Tattoo fan, I saw it when I was 8
02:42and I saw it again when I was 18 and I was like, I want to do that one day and now I
02:45get to do it.
02:46So I start from the point of view that I want to keep the heritage and the amazing tradition
02:52of the Tattoo and I just want to make sure that it's always just slowly moving forward
02:56to keep the audience with it.
02:57And so I think you'll see theatricality, of course you will, that's what I know how to
03:01do, but you'll also see someone who really respects the form as well.
03:04The Tattoo for 75 years has been giving to charity and most recently in 2019, pre-COVID,
03:24we were giving a million pounds and we're on track to do that again next year.
03:28And in some ways I hope people see the Tattoo through that lens and want to participate
03:33with the Tattoo in order for that great purpose that we have.
03:38And then there are other things this year for the 75th, 75p of every single ticket sold
03:44will be given to charity as well.
03:45So it's something that is very important to all of us here at the Tattoo.
03:52Our parent company is a charity, I report to a board of trustees and they look at how
03:59we can give more every single year.
04:02And again, it's something I'm so thrilled about that we are that kind of company.
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