Live Entertainment
Launched last month against the beautiful backdrop of Auckland Castle in North East England, Kynren is the first night show outside of France to be produced in partnership with Puy Du Fou, France's multiple award-winning live entertainment theme park
Kynren
Summer spectacular celebrates English history (with a little bit of French flair)
K
ynren – an epic tale of England, to give it its full name, celebrates 2,000 years of English history on a spectacular scale. Audiences marvel as the
beautifully-choreographed story unfolds over one-and-a-half hours in a purpose-built 8,000 capacity open-air theatre in front of a stage so vast it has a huge lake at its centre. Produced at a cost of £35 million (€40m/$45m), the
show's 23 acts – covering Roman times to World War II – are brought vibrantly to life by a cast of 600, all of whom have been trained as archers, plus live animals including 34 horses, 26 sheep, two goats, two cows, 20 ducks and five geese. The stage hides many surprises including a hydraulically-lifting castle and long ship, all illuminated to sensational effect with dazzling pyrotechnics, lighting, water jets and set to a specially composed soundtrack experienced in movie-like surround sound. Kynren tells the story of Arthur, the son of a local mining
family, who – as a 10-year-old boy dreaming of becoming a professional footballer – accidentally kicks his ball through the window of a hunting lodge in the grounds of Auckland Castle. He encounters Bishop Hensley Henson, who urges him to think beyond football alone and offers to take him on a journey through British history, to open his eyes to the greatness of his land. During his odyssey, Arthur encounters myth, legend and
history, witnessing the Viking and Norman invasions, St Cuthbert and Lindisfarne monks, mediaeval feasts, the Elizabethan era, Georgian Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and the Roaring Twenties along the way. He meets the pivotal figures who have shaped religion, culture
The Eleven Arches vision
Eleven Arches is part of the vision of philanthropist and investment manager Jonathan Ruffler, who placed Auckland Castle at the centre of the regeneration of Bishop Auckland, County Durham and England's North East region. Upon purchasing the castle and transferring it into a trust, he also purchased the land below it, a natural bowl that sits across from an eleven-arched Victorian viaduct; a majestic piece of architecture and landmark piece of heritage that is a reminder that the world's first passenger railway started just 20 miles away. Eleven Arches has been conceived as a complement to the major redevelopment around Auckland Castle and will play major part in helping it to fulfil its ambition to become a national tourist destination. The inspiration for Kynren is Puy du Fou’s night show – Cinescenie – which has been seen by over 11 million people over the last
38 years and helped the park (which also includes several other live shows) reach the position in recent years of busiest non- Disney theme park in France.
26 AUGUST 2016
and invention, the kings, queens and prince bishops who have ruled, the armies that have invaded, all contributing to the country’s colourful cultural tapestry. The name of the show echoes the old Anglo-Saxon word
‘Cynren’, which translates as ‘family’ or ‘generation’ (the words “kindred” or “next-of-kin” have the same root). Celebrating its curtain call on July 2, it is scheduled to be performed 14 times by the middle of September. Eleven Arches, the charity set up to produce the show, intends Kynren to be performed for many summers to come, providing a transformative effect to the local economy, just as Puy du Fou (its artistic partner) has done in its own rural corner of France. Already tickets have been sold to visitors from China, New Zealand South Africa and the USA amongst other countries. Billed as the largest open air spectacular in the UK since
the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, some of the team from that production are on board at Kynren alongside several of the world’s top performance experts and a team from Puy Do Fou,including its president Nicolas de Villiers. The CEO of Eleven Arches, also French, is Anne-Isabelle Daulon. A show on this scale would bot be possible, however, without the efforts of Kynren's 1,000+ volunteers, and the team from Eleven Arches have clearly fostered a lot of goodwill among the local community.
Kynren will be performed every Saturday night from now until September 17, and also Sunday, August 27. Show times vary according to light conditions. More information at
elevenarches.co.uk
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