Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope
Production support
After 4 years of participation as costumed historical re-enactors, Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope were given unprecedented access with their cameras to the UK's oldest and largest historical re-enactment at Kentwell Hall in rural Suffolk.
Among the 500 volunteers spending their summer holidays re-creating every conceivable walk of 16th century English life, they met a core of fiercely loyal and protective re-enactors whose real life stories form a fascinating counterpoint to their chosen 16th century roles: they include Tissy, a former airline security guard who becomes the serene 'lady of the manor'; Danny, a disaffected teenager who transforms into the gentlemanly and rather camp Master Riece; and Sue, a solicitor who never wants to leave the manor.
Shepherding through the thousands of paying visitors who keep Kentwell afloat, is owner Patrick Phillips, a distantly paternal leader who describes the epic spectacles as his 'games'.