Review: The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer is not exactly light reading. His English is difficult, the world he writes about is alien. But Tacit Theatre, a touring company performing The Canterbury Tales this weekend in the Byre Theatre, has brought him to life. Six actors took turns to tell their stories; the Miller’s, the Reve’s, the Wife of Bath’s, the Nun’s Preist’s, the Friar’s, the Summoner’s and the Pardoner’s Tales were all performed.

The greatest thing about the performance was its use of the original text. It’s fair to note that it occasionally added to, altered or omitted sections. This was irritating and confusing, as one had to struggle to work out what was original and what was needless embellishment. But to a large degree, the actors presented Chaucer’s own words. Through performance, the dense and confusing text was made accessible and explained, so that the audience could fully appreciate Chaucer’s brilliance. The ambitious stage design immediately converted the theatre into the Tabard Inn, the poems’ famous setting, and the insertion of musical interludes between the tales was a fun way to break up the performances. These songs were all performed to a high standard, using an array of string instruments, and although were obviously not written by Chaucer were very in keeping with his characteristic dirtiness. One song about a woman’s “cuckoo’s nest” was particularly funny.

Almost every Tale was told superbly, generating laugh after laugh from the audience. It is true that The Pardoner’s Tale descended into weird play-fighting and left the text behind, but every other story was narrated and performed to a high standard. Much of the humour of course should be assigned to Chaucer himself, but the actors were able to translate the jokes into something understandable to a modern audience, as well as adding in a few of their own. The Summoner’s account of thousands of friars dwelling in Satan’s arsehole and the many innuendos littered throughout the night were particularly amusing.

The use of props and costumes was exceptional. The choice to limit the items to a few pieces that could be reused and adapted to various contexts was excellent, as it helped convey the idea that these stories were being told and performed spontaneously. The actors didn’t handle their instruments very carefully, though. They used the neck and the body of a broken cello throughout the performance, and every time either half of it reappeared, I winced in pity for the poor, desecrated instrument.

One annoyance was the decision to make the main narrator into the “host”, not Geoffrey Chaucer himself, as in the original poem. He narrated the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, and whilst it was very good, too much liberty was taken in reassigning this tale.

It is also fair to say that the acting, whilst of a good quality, was never ground-breaking. The characters were all believable and well-performed, but for a professional production, a certain star quality was sadly lacking.

But niggling issues aside, Tacit Theatre presented a high-quality, highly amusing play, full of energy and incredibly accessible to all. I would eagerly recommend it to any lover of the English language; or anybody who just wants to have a good time.

images © Tacit Theatre company