Enchantment, fear and comedy in Chaucer’s tales

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales will be performed at the Talisman Theatre from Monday to Saturday October 23 as the company at Barrow Road celebrates 68 years in business.

On a pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of people from different social classes band together for a boisterous storytelling competition to relieve the boredom of their journey.

The show, directed by Christoper Carpenter, is based on a recent modern English adaptation of the work by Gordon Vallins.

Christopher describes the tales told over the course of the evening as, by turns, “very rude (be warned), strangely moral (be afraid), lyrical (be enchanted), and very silly (be amused)”.

The story-tellers and the characters they evoke are surprisingly modern in their follies, vices and virtues.

Despite their 14th century origins, audiences members should expect to recognise and respond to their humanity.

Five stories make up the programme, told variously by the Miller (Neil Vallance) the Pardoner (Mark Plastow) the Nun’s Priest (Nevil Malin), the Reeve (Dave Crossfield) and the Wife of Bath (Vicki Hollings).

Dangling carpenters, broody hens, mooners and cross-dressing princesses also join the set.

Performances start at 7.30pm each night. For tickets, call 856548.