Canterbury Tales - Tales 1

Synopsis

Canterbury Tales is a bawdy classic written 700 years ago, it centres on a group of pilgrims who entertain one another with stories as they ride to Canterbury Cathedral. But despite the apparently holy purpose of their journey these travellers reveal themselves as sinners rather than saints. The pilgrims contrasting and colourful backgrounds offer many different stories, from the serious and moral to the farcical and bawdy, proving that like Shakespeare after him, Chaucer was ‘not for an age but for all time .

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194.75.129.200) - 30 January 2006:

The text used in the RSC's wonderful production of The Canterbury Tales is a new adaptation by Mike Poulton and is largely (though not entirely) in modern English, but the show nevertheless carries an authentically mediaeval atmosphere. The pilgrims, and the characters in the tales they tell, wear period costumes which often recall the jewel bright colours of illuminated manuscripts and their journey takes place on designer Michael Vale's simple greensward, on which stands a single, largely bare-branched tree. The piece is in two parts, each consisting of a series of tales. It is not necessary to see both to follow the story, but I guarantee that most people, having seen one, would be unable to resist going to the other as well! Nor need you see them in the right order, though this is probably the most satisfying thing to do since it enhances not only the sense of actually journeying with the pilgrims but also the appreciation of both the beginning of the first part (a prologue in which the background to the expedition is set out) and the end of the second (a beautiful hymn sung by the pilgrims on their arrival at the shrine of St Thomas) – for they (happily, and unlike Chaucer's original characters) actually get to Canterbury. The production does not attempt either to mitigate the bawdiness of the original work – there is no stint of explicit references to bodily functions and "swyving" (use your imagination) is a feature of many of the tales – or to be "politically correct" by removing the religious intolerance which is inherent in The Prioress's Tale and The Man of Law's Tale. More surprising, perhaps, is the fact that the show's frequent portrayals of women who are clearly the masters in their homes are also not a concession to modern thought but truly reflect the original poems! The company, who give a magnificent ensemble performance, include Claire Benedict as a wonderfully warm-hearted Wife of Bath, Paola Dionisotti as the Prioress whose gentle protests at the moral tone of some the tales (which are often supported by Christopher Saul's suitably chivalrous and indignant Knight) are in vivid contrast to her chilling delivery of her own, and Michael Matus as the Monk, whose tedious tales of tragedy send the rest of the pilgrims to sleep! Mention must also be made of the delightful puppets in The Nun's Priest's Tale, which include a charmingly insinuating fox and a chorus of singing hens! If there is a star, it is surely Mark Hadfield as the apparently self-effacing Chaucer, who spends much of his time either trying to hide his identity from the other pilgrims ("I'm Geoff, just Geoff") or surreptitiously making notes about their tales! This Chaucer is exceedingly reluctant to join in the Host's competition by telling a tale of his own – but when persuaded to do so he delivers a rap version of the Tale of Sir Thopas, accompanied by suitable music and movement, that deservedly brings the house down! ...

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