Presenting these classic tales in the round is no mean achievement for director and composer Conrad Nelson, assistant director Andy Cryer and designer Lis Evans who have combined to deliver a stunning production that brings a selection of Chaucer’s age-old stories to life. The sheer management of the operation, involving 16 actors and a bewildering number of scene changes, must be quite daunting but it all comes together beautifully.
Mike Poulton’s new ‘best of’ version of the tales, while still a lengthy affair, benefits from its relative brevity. Cast members have to be as competent at DIY as delivering their lines, both of which they achieve in style. There’s hardly a moment when someone isn’t arranging multipurpose wooden boxes, decorating stepladders or assembling a windmill.
In one of the more serious tales, that of the Clerk of Oxenford, Rosie Jenkins gives a moving portrayal of Grisilde, the perfect Christian prepared to give up even her children for her Lord. At the other end of the scale, the notoriously bawdy Miller’s Tale, with its bed-hopping and mistaken identities, is a farcical delight. Elsewhere, Neil Salvage makes the perfect, robust Knight and Alan McMahon is a hoot as the Monk so desperate to tell his tale.
The multitalented cast is called upon to sing, play an assortment of musical instruments and, in some cases, to display their considerable abilities as contortionists. All of which makes for a busy evening that leaves you as breathless as having walked from North Staffordshire to Canterbury.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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