The Canterbury Tales
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Northern Broadsides Tales to be told in Salford

Fresh from partnering Lenny Henry onstage in the West End, acclaimed Northern Broadsides actor and director Conrad Nelson turns his talents to jesting, jousting, puppets and poetry for Chaucer’s masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, which stops off at the Lowry, later this month as part of the UK tour.

Nelson, who played Iago in the recent hit tour of Othello, directs the celebrated Northern Broadsides in a riotous new reworking of the medieval caper.

The Tabard Inn, London, sometime in the fourteenth century. A motley group of individuals – Knight, Cook, Miller, Squire, Wife and more - gather for their pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. On the way, they regale each other with colourful tales to pass the time of day and thus unfolds one of the greatest collections of stories ever told.

First toured by the RSC to rapturous reviews, Mike Poulton's witty adaptation is revamped in a production that has it all: love stories, rude stories and farce most lewd, mirth, merriment and a good dose of song and dance.  

A cast of 16 features the talents of At Home with the Braithwaites actress Ishia Bennison (as the Wife of Bath) who became a household name in the Eighties as Guizin Ozman, one of the first Eastenders cast members; The Secret Diary of a Call Girl’s Emily Butterfield (Nun); and Richard Standing (Yeoman), known to millions as Coronation Street’s Danny Hargreaves, last seen in Broadsides’ production of Othello.

Co-produced with Staffordshire’s award-winning New Vic Theatre, a fine creative team includes puppeteer Lee Threadgold, who recently pulled the strings on the acclaimed Heidi: A Goat’s Tail, and in-the-round expert, New Vic Designer Lis Evans.

The Canterbury Tales runs at the Lowry from 18 - 22 May. For more details, visit the company website.

- by Glenn Meads

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