Kynren is loosely defined as knowing ones heritage and how that informs one of their identity. It is taken from the Saxon word Cynren which means family and generation. The story is told via young mans journey through a time portal in the center of a lake. The young man's name is Arthur and he is told of the portal by the groundskeeper also named Arthur. The young Arthur slips through the portal and goes back in time to witness highlights from Britain's history. He saw the invasions of the Romans, Vikings, Scotts, and Anglo Saxons. Luminaries such as King Arthur, William the Conqueror, a hoard of Vikings, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth 1, King Charles 1, Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth 2, Winston Churchill and more were featured in this telling of history. Over 1500 people from the town, Bishop Auckland, were involved, either as actors, tech crew or support volunteers. The only paid performers were the horsemen who galloped through the field and along all of the paths during the course of the show. We hitched a ride to the show with Ernie and Lynn our gracious hosts. The whole experience was well organized from the parking to the food and drink to the exiting of the venue. Although pictures were discouraged I used my phone and kept it close to my body so as not to distract my fellow attendees.
On the shuttle to the play
One of many queues we were to stand in during our experience
Ready to do battle!
The seating area is enclosed by the wooden structure that looks a bit midieval
A bit to nibble on before the show
The line for nibbles, Ernie and Lynn to the right
Caw caw
A fine outfit for a potentially rainy evening
In the stands
A seemingly open field
The pond was center stage at times during the show
The supernatural portal
Just a legion of Romans
Riding chariots and horses
Complete with maidens and slaves
Arthur greeting monks from North Umbria
Seagull puppets
Vikings!
Run and save yourselves
After shooting flaming arrows there heathens are ready to defend themselves
William the Conqueror sweeps in behind the Vikings
He is crowned with much fanfare
Soon there are knights jousting
Much merriment
Good times!
An incantation for the sword Excalibur
The Lady of the Lake
King Arthur and the Round Table
A great show was put on by King Henry VIII while he was hosting the French King Frances
It was called "The Field of the Cloth of Gold" at the time
Later in line to leave an older gentleman was amazed that these geese were trained. He was adamant about how difficult geese are to work with.
A gaggle!
A harvest festival
A fountain of water represents the Cathedral at Durham for some of the many coal miners killed in mine accidents
Gearing up for the ending
Different scenes were projected on to the side of this building
Everyone comes out for the finale
Wowzers what a show!
As you can see it got quite chilly
As we all filter out to the busses that will take us back to the car
Our bus and the next to last leg before getting home just before midnight
