JORVIK
The Glitch
★★★
“an hour of tremendous fun”
Down in the depths of the underground warren of spaces near Waterloo, the Vikings have arrived and are in battle. Or are planning their invasion of Northumbria. Or are celebrating their success with stories. I was never fully clear about what was going on, but then I don’t suppose the Viking warriors and their women were either, when the spirit of Valhalla gripped them.
Writer and performer Charlie Blanshard has brought to London his immersive re-imagining of the roaring times of 866 – and there was a lot of roaring. This is the aftermath of the fall of Eoforwic (York) to the Great Heathen Army. We are seated in the square, in the hall and throne room, with Ubbe (Charlie Blanshard), the army’s leader and first son of Ragnar Lodbrok, legendary Norse hero. With songs and toasts a-plenty we are helping Ubbe celebrate the revenge that he has wreaked on the Saxon King of Northumbria who – in the saga of Ragnar and his sons – captured and executed his father.
But all is not entirely well with Ubbe – his younger brother is set to become the king, usurping Ubbe’s rightful place as the eldest son, and his name is going to sink into obscurity. Well, not quite, since we are here. The key protagonist in teasing out the story of Ubbe is a sort of Everyman figure (Blanshard) a soldier, an advisor to Ubbe, or his guiding spirit who reminds us of our own fates as nameless heroes of history.
Blanshard has done a great job of bringing the Viking saga and its oral traditions to life. JORVIC has transferred to the basement of The Glitch from the JORVIC Viking Centre where, one assumes, he would have a lot more props to work with. Oliver Strong is a convincing Viking with painted face and stentorian tones. Strong exhibits less of the physicality we might expect but certainly has the blonde looks. The performance space is bare except for a few LED candles but it is suitably dark and forbidding. While the only players are Blanshard and Strong, they have an audience of around 30 people to turn into an army – which they do, to great effect. Audience members are selected for parts to accompany the dialogue between Ubbe and his soldier companion. We all get to sing and thump our chests – a very enjoyable and lively bit of audience participation.
Altogether, this is an hour of tremendous fun spent in the company of the Vikings of York’s history. It’s probably more participative than immersive. An excellent outcome was the prompt to learn a bit more about the history of Ragnar and his Sons, which Blanshard – self-described as loud and proud of his Northern roots – must surely want to celebrate.
JORVIK
The Glitch
Reviewed on 26th January 2026
by Louise Sibley
