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ET25.8 A History of Britain as never before · The Downing Arts Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
• 0:03
  Exams are still in full swing, but various May week activities are now on
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  the horizon with plenty of musical performances planned, as well as the highly anticipated
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  annual Shakespeare production from the Dramatic Society. Tune in next week for the May
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  week preview episode to find out more. My guest today
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  is first year engineering student James Wayne. Welcome, James. Hi.
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  It's lovely to be here. Great, it's good to have you with us. I'm really
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  looking forward to talking to you about your chosen topic, which will be revealed in
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  just a second. So you're studying engineering and you
• 0:35
  also sing in the choir. What kind of other things do you do when you're
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  in your spare time, if you have any? Well, yeah, I sing in choir at
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  Cambridge and I'm loving that. And I've also joined the Downing May Ball committee for
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  this year. So trying to really get involved in college life in that way.
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  I do college lacrosse, which is a good bit of fun, a bit of light
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  relief, and trying to do an engineering society as well and do
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  a railway challenge of building a train to take to a
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  competition in June. Gosh, building a train sounds like quite a challenge,
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  or I guess for an engineer, it's probably the kind of thing you should be
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  doing. Yeah, it's not a full size train, it's just like, it's ten and a
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  quarter inch scale, but it's like a challenge against other universities, but it's
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  still quite the feat. And speaking of trains, so you
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  want to talk about Kinran, which sounds amazing. We will,
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  we will enlighten our audience in just a second. But I believe
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  it involves a replica railway this year, is that right? Yeah.
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  So as one of the aspects of the show, as we tell the story of
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  history, is a full size replica of locomotion number one,
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  which was the first passenger train to run 200
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  years ago this year along the Darlington to
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  Stockton Railway in the region where I live and where Kinran takes place. Perhaps you
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  could just put this in context a little bit. I probably shouldn't have dived in
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  straight away with the train, but it's very, very exciting. So what is Kinran
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  and how did you become involved? So Kinran is a live
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  action, open air, spectacular show that takes place
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  just outside the grounds of Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland in
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  County Durham. It is run by a team of 1,000 volunteers who make up
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  the cast and crew and they tell 2000 years of British history in
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  about 90 minutes in the most spectacular outdoor
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  theatre that you've seen. It's a seven and a half acre stage. It's an 8,000
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  seat tribune and they bring history to life for
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  thousands of guests every year, every Saturday night over the summer. Wow.
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  Gosh. And so how does the train fit into all this? The train
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  appears on stage for about a minute, just comes across as a scene of
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  when we get to 1825 and the industrial Revolution. And for
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  us in the northeast and in this region, the railways are really important
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  to our history and to our success as a region, being the first
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  passenger train to run just down the road from where Kinman takes place through
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  my hometown. So it's something that we really want to celebrate as part of the
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  show as we go through key moments in history. So we start all the
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  way back at Boudicca and the Romans and we run right the way through to
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  modern day and NHS nurses and the world wars.
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  All in 90 minutes. All in 90 minutes. So it's quite fast paced,
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  but it's, it's just fantastic thing to be a part of. So the show started
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  in 2016 and that was when I sort of first heard about it as a
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  sort of 10 year old child and went to see
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  it in that opening season and was just mesmerized by the whole thing. To see
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  something of that scale and that production on my doorstep was just
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  something I never been lucky enough to experience before. And over the years
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  I've gone back and seen it again. And then in Lower Six, I did my
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  geography coursework on Bishop Auckland and the cultural
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  regeneration that we're seeing there and how they're using art and Kinran as a key
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  part of this to regenerate the local area. And that just
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  reignited my passion to get involved. And I just recently passed my
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  driving test and I thought, actually I'll be able to get here. I can actually,
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  you know, drive and get here and very easily and get involved.
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  So I went along to the next open call and yeah, signed up to be
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  a volunteer and I volunteered throughout last season and are looking forward
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  to volunteering this season as well. So as a volunteer, what does that involve?
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  I imagine there's plenty of different things you can get involved with. Yeah, there's a
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  million and one different teams to be part of. So all of the shore team
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  volunteers, there's props teams, there's tech teams, there's visitor experience
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  teams. And what I personally do is I'm part of the operations team.
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  So we look at how guests flow through the site and
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  just safety critical points of the show, both backstage
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  and for our guests as they come to visit. So we Sort of oversee
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  and help run the night for the show. And how much
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  time does that take off? It must be. Is it your entire summer?
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  Well, it's every Saturday in the summer, so I love going along. And then we'll
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  do training sessions and we'll do preparation meetings leading
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  up to that. Um, but it's on a Saturday. It's great to get in,
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  you know, one of the first ones on site, making sure everything's set up,
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  getting our visitors in, letting them see this amazing show
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  that so many people haven't heard about, and so many people are so surprised when
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  they come to see it, that this is in Bishop Auckland, it's in County Durham,
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  and that it's just such a grand scale. And then
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  seeing them up at the end of the night, getting them away on shuttle buses
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  and then closing up the sites. So, yeah, nice long shifts on the summer Saturdays,
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  but they're very enjoyable. So you said the. If I remember rightly,
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  you said it was seven and a half acres. Is that right? Yeah, the stage
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  is seven and a half acres. Seven and a half acres, Right. Okay. And if
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  you've got. What is it, 8,000 people in the. In the stadium
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  or in the venue? How. How do they all see what's going on?
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  I mean, are there different things happening at the same time in different. Different.
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  We have a massive rigged tribune area
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  that everyone sits on, and then our stage is made up of a horse track.
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  So there's 39 horses that perform in part of the show. There's a lake with
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  different elements that come out of the lake throughout the show to bring different scenes
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  and different props to life. We have our big castle backdrop.
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  So the shore features fireworks, projections,
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  fountains, as well as live action.
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  A whole array of animals, from geese to sheep, to battle
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  scenes to dancers to people walking on water.
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  Everything happens that could happen in this show to keep it interesting.
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  And everything happens on quite a big scale. With so many people taking
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  part in the show, we're able to really spread out where things happen and really
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  bring the action as it carries you through. Gosh, it sounds.
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  It just sounds absolutely amazing. I'm just trying to comprehend
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  the kind of size of this whole thing. Both. Yeah,
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  I think it's one of those things that you need to look up and watch
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  a trailer and then visualize what. What is there. And it's been such a
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  fantastic project to be a part of because just so many people
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  in the local community are part of it that I've never sort of felt as
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  connected to my community as I have done through it. I think it's just such
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  a fantastic thing of. You're helping to make memories, you're helping to regenerate
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  the community. You're also doing something that's this incredible piece of art,
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  this amazing piece of theater that's so unique all in one. It's just.
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  Yeah, a really fantastic thing to be. A part of one of the top five
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  shows to see in the UK, according to TripAdvisor. So, I mean, people must come
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  from near and far to see it. Yeah, we get guests from all over the
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  world, which is just fantastic to see the sort of spectacle and
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  to live British history and. But then we have people come from down the
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  road as well and think it's equally as amazing. When you say British
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  history, I mean, how do you deal with some of the more
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  gory parts of British history? I think it's. It's British history
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  through a. Through a Northeast lens as well, and through things that are
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  significant to the region as well as the country.
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  And it's a show that's produced by. Was initially
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  produced by a professional team from Puy du Fou, who do a similar show in
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  France. And then they brought the concept here to
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  the uk. They helped develop the show in its first year. And then
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  a local charity has ran with that concept onwards
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  and continued to run the show year on year. So it was very
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  thoughtfully designed by a range of people to highlight
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  the key moments that are significant to Northeast people.
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  What's your favorite moment in the show? I think there's so many
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  to choose from. As a bit of a train geek, the train is actually a
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  highlight. I think it's a lovely part and it comes out of nowhere because you
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  don't really see the track until it's there and you're like, oh, that's been there
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  all along. I also think some of the moments where things rise
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  out of the water, I don't want to spoil too much for someone who might
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  potentially go and see it, but some of the surprises that come out the water,
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  just fantastic. Gosh. And I mean, when you say
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  there are thousands of volunteers, and I mean, do people come back year
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  after year? Do they sort of. Do you get the same people doing the same
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  things? I think I read that this year the statistic is 95% of people have
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  returned, and it is absolutely mainly local people who give their
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  time. There's a thousand volunteers, as I said, ranging in age 5
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  to above 80. And it's just amazing how many people get
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  involved and people actually come from further Afield as well. We have a lady who
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  travels from London to come and volunteer every weekend,
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  which is just incredible. And I think it's the dedication of
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  such a team who are giving their time
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  to give back and to do something that's fun for them, but it's also helping
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  to support the town and the regeneration efforts as a
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  whole. So you mentioned that charity has sort of taken it on and
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  is running it and so on. So are there various charities
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  that give money or businesses that sponsor this?
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  Obviously ticket costs help to keep the show sustainable,
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  but there's two charities, both founded by a man called Jonathan Ruffer who
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  have really helped to transform Bishop Auckland. And it was his charity,
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  his vision to have this show and to have Puy du Fou
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  come in and help develop it, that made it into existence. So Jonathan
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  is a philanthropist who has founded two
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  charities, Eleven Archers, which is responsible for Kinran and
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  the current nightshow that it has and its future developments that
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  have recently been announced. And then the other one is called the Auckland Project,
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  so named after Bishop Auckland and is responsible for pretty much everything
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  else. So they have been responsible for developing the palace,
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  building a miner's art gallery with the mining history of the local area being
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  so important, they've built a Spanish gallery because the Auckland
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  palace, which was the home of the Prince Bishop of Durham for up
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  until 2007, is really significant in its collection of
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  Spanish portraits and Spanish art. So there's a Spanish gallery built and they've also made
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  it a multi faith museum, all in the town centre of Bishop Auckland.
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  And they're doing a whole range of developments there to revitalize
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  the town center because like many areas in the northeast, it is seen a
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  decline recent years. And it is really trying to use tourism between
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  these two charities and his philanthropy to regenerate and revitalize
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  the area and give it a new identity. So is the show scripted?
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  You know, is it. Is it the same show every year or are there sort
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  of. Is there a team that. It is scripted and it is very,
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  very similar show every year. Every year there's always a few tweaks to a few
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  scenes. For example, this year they're read doing one of the jubilee scenes with
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  new music and new dancers and completely
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  changing that scene. And it's quite common for them to. For the producers to
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  go back and change little parts of it, keep it fresh to keep people coming
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  back. Last year we had the Viking Village as part of our pre
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  show. So we had a, like a traditional Viking village that people could come in
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  and explore before the show started. That's coming back this year as well.
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  So they're always adding new things and moving forward to next year.
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  The Kindryn have also announced we're going to build a historical theme
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  park called the Storied Lands, which is going to be a new development which
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  is going to be a day park with lots of smaller shows, very similar to
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  the Puy du Fou concept in France that it's built off,
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  which tell different individual stories of British history or of
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  legend. And that's going to be a wider project
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  of redevelopment that's going to be paid staff rather than volunteers. So bringing
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  jobs to the community as well as. So there's definitely a really exciting future in
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  all of these projects as well. Gosh, what an introduction to the
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  show. So when does it start? So it starts this
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  year, July 19th and then we're running for nine Saturdays through I think,
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  September 13th. Okay, great. So, yeah,
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  so as you say, the entire summer, what's been your favorite moment over the years?
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  I think that's pretty hard actually. I think there's just so many things
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  I think for me as well for doing it from like an operations capacity,
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  the skills I've learned have just been fantastic.
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  I've developed as a person and developed so much being
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  part of it, but it's just, I think getting to be part of something so
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  amazing and just having someone come up to you after and say that was amazing,
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  I'm gonna bring back a family member or something and you're like, yeah, I was
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  part of that. And yes, it is incredible. And that's just fantastic.
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  Brilliant. Well, thank you ever so much for chatting this morning and yeah,
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  hopefully someone listening to this will be. Will be nearby or will be from further
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  afield and feel like it's something they want to go and see. No problem.
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  Thank you for letting me on to talk about Kinran. I feel like I could
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  talk about it forever, which is probably slightly annoying to the people around me,
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  but it's just something that is so wonderful to be part of.
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  Fantastic. Thank you very much.
• 14:00
  This week in College on Friday, 12:30 till 1pm,
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  students and staff are invited to join Martin Gayford for a tour of the new
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  exhibition in the gallery. See the show notes for more details. On Saturday at
• 14:12
  8:30, the Cambridge Footlights present their 2025 stand up showcase in
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  the Howard Theatre hosted by Downing Dramatic Society. See the show notes for details
• 14:21
  on where to get your tickets. Sunday 15th June is the deadline for the
• 14:25
  Alumnae association annual Photographic Competition and is also the final
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  evensong of the academic year. Music is chosen by choir leavers
• 14:33
  and will feature Noble in B Minor as well as Wood's exuberant O Thou
• 14:36
  the Central Orb. On Monday 16 June, the Music Society are back
• 14:41
  in action with a performance of Schubert's beautiful C Major String Quartet.
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  See the show notes for details. And on Thursday 19th June, they host the
• 14:48
  choir's annual recital in the chapel at 5:30pm which is always a joyous occasion.
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  There's lots to look forward to as we head towards May Week. Thanks for listening.