Return of the Vikings!

26th February 2024

A Viking village, complete with cookhouse, cottages and a working blacksmith’s forge, is being recreated as part of a spectacular live outdoor theatre production in County Durham.

Taking place every Saturday night from 27th July to 14th September*, ‘Kynren – an epic tale of England’ is a multi-award winning production featuring a 1,000-strong volunteer cast and crew, performed on a gigantic 7.5-acre stage just outside Bishop Auckland.

Watch legends come to life and travel through 2000 years of history and adventure as seen through the eyes of Arthur, the son of a mining family.  From the legendary exploits of Boudicca and King Arthur to the grandeur of Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare, immerse yourself in a world where Vikings storm, knights clash, miners toil and spectacular heroes rise under epic skies.

As part of the pre-show entertainment for 2024, audience-goers will have the opportunity to wander through an authentic recreation of a traditional 9th-century village, as its inhabitants prepare for a raid.

“The Viking Village provides a really immersive way for audiences to travel back in time and prepare themselves for the adventure to come,” said Anna Warnecke, CEO.

“There will be the chance to talk and interact with the villagers as they go about their daily lives, visit the cookhouse, see them tend to the animals, prepare meals and watch the blacksmith at work in his forge producing real chainmail,” she added.

Anna further added, “The Vikings are a popular aspect of the show, featuring incredible scenes such as a Viking longship burial on the water with live Vikings aboard, and the gripping kidnapping of a fisherwoman, all enhanced by dramatic fiery effects and explosions.”

In a bid to make the village as authentic as possible Kynren even has a clutch of rare Icelandic chickens which were originally bred by Vikings and can trace their origins back to the 9th century.  They are part of a menagerie of animals featured in the show including 33 performance horses, donkeys, sheep, geese, goats and cows.

‘Kynren’ echoes the Anglo Saxon word ‘cynren’, meaning generation, kin or family, and is a fitting name for Arthur’s epic discovery of his roots.