London Games Creative Dir Danny Boyle announced that Olympic Stadium will be transformed into "the British countryside" for the July 27 Opening Ceremony, with a “backdrop featuring farmyard animals and British landmarks,” according to Magnay & Heath of the London TELEGRAPH. Boyle said the opening scene would be called "Green and Pleasant" and the aim of the ceremony is to create "a picture of ourselves as a nation." Boyle's “quirky sense of humour is evident in the ideas for the ceremony and the pastoral scene, which include 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens, three sheep dogs, real grass and a plough.” There are also “clouds with fake rain just in case the night is clear and a game of cricket.” Boyle said, "If it doesn't rain, we have created our own." The ceremony is expected to cost almost US$42M. At one end of the British countryside scene will be a “pit of people, dubbed the 'Posh pit,' to represent the final night of the Proms,” which is the U.K.'s annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts. Members of the public, "possibly local East Londoners, will be selected to be in the mosh pits, but they won't include any of the 10,000 Olympic athletes.” Boyle said that the athletes “wouldn't be able to stand for the length of time required and will instead, be part of the athletes parade on the 'M25' circular road.” There have “already been 157 cast rehearsals” (London TELEGRAPH, 6/12). The GUARDIAN’s Owen Gibson writes, "While the show will “open with a rural pastoral vision that evokes William Blake and Jerusalem, it is expected to evolve to take on a more urban hue.” Boyle said he would not reveal how the "puzzle fits together" as the show evolved. He also “refused to confirm any of the acts that will take part, although Sir Paul McCartney has already confirmed his involvement and the likes of Take That and The Who are also expected to feature.” Boyle had already revealed that “the three-hour opening ceremony would be titled Isles of Wonder” (GUARDIAN, 6/12).
