THE CANTERBURY TALES
by Geoffrey Chaucer,

A Dukes Theatre Promenade Production
adapted by Gareth Machin
Williamson Park, Lancaster,
2 July to 7 August 2004

Reviewed by Michael Nunn

An impenetrable chore?
Most people probably regard the ebullient and lively fourteenth-century verse of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales as "too highbrow' because it's in the "foreign language' of Middle English. For others, it invokes the dread or loathing of an imponderable examination drudge.

… No, a superbly-crafted work
Whilst the original is not easy to read, a decent translation of the travelogue, now cheaply and easily available, will show these preconceptions to be completely false. Earthy, ribald, downright filthy in places, gloriously un-PC, the 20-plus stories and their linking narratives are a superbly-crafted series of snapshots of all human life. These powerful depictions ring true today, some seven hundred years on, with warts, bodily noises and excretions, happy, injured and broken hearts and all the rest.

"Pilgrims behaving badly!'
One appeal of these stories lies in their direct honesty and sheer clarity. Some of the characters, like the drunken Miller, the pretentious Prioress, the peaceable Host and the poncey Pardoner, are familiar faces to many of us in 2004. Chaucer describes the fifty-mile journey on horseback of a motley group of individuals on their pilgrimage/holiday, and the trip could well be a coach-load of lively Brits going on holiday to London or the Scottish Lochs. Or probably abroad, since it took several days to cover 50 miles in those days. The programme presents it as "Pilgrims behaving badly!'.

As well it might, for this is no Mothers' Union outing. Instead, think mixed student rugby club and village social outing. In his description of the journey, and the telling of the stories to while away the time (no radio, portable CD players or mobile phone games, remember) , Chaucer spares no detail of his characters' widely-different natures, however quirky, base or odd. We varyingly squirm, laugh at, for or with them, cry as they do, or sympathise with the problems they face. Sometimes we reel back in horror (The Pardoner's Tale) or collapse in helpless guffaws at their crass antics.

Medieval filth
The bizarre human situations they get themselves into are also easily recognisable today, though not many of us would stick our posteriors out of the bedroom window to deter an unwanted suitor. Needless to say, Chaucer uses a much coarser word for that lower part of the anatomy – yes, it's older than you thought and there are numerous other bawdy passages and references in the text as well, such as "I like to be well lubricated before mounting my steed'. Modesty in a family website forbids more, but go and look them out yourself.

Gender warfare and other contemporary issues
The frustrations of love and the twists of fate (The Knight's Tale), the perils of lust and greed (The Miller's and The Pardoner's Tale), and the power struggles between man and wife (The Wife of Bath's Tale) are some key topics in this selection from The Tales. There is nothing new under the sun. There is even a mention of the current difficulties experienced by the Greek government in preparing for next months Olympic Games in Athens, where part of The Knight's Tale is set. Chaucer was nothing if not topical.

Even over 600 years ago, the question of male-female power struggles is a big issue for Chaucer and his characters. Some will argue that it is the core theme in the work. But whilst many of The Tales have a moral element, Chaucer is never judgemental – the reader, listener or viewer is left to make up their own mind about the rights, wrongs and other implications of the situation.

From Kent to Lancashire
What, then, of Gareth Machin's adaptation and Ian Hastings' production? Does their selection from The Tales work en promenade in the open air?

First, the nuances, emotional energy and sheer power of Chaucer's verse come through lucidly in this excellent, mostly prose adaptation. The varied language, finely attuned to the different worlds of the educated life of academia and religion, life on a farm, the workshop of a manual worker, or the incoherent demi-monde of the professional drunk (a cook, of course), is a sheer joy to listen to.

An earthy, varied joy
Second, Hastings makes excellent use of the text to play it for the pathos, comedy, low or high drama of the original. Creative and magical use is made of the splendid setting of Williamson Park to present the various episodes in this journey (a "medieval package holiday') from Southwark in London to St Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury, which was then a world tourist destination for punters pious, profane and promiscuous alike.

Visceral and visual
The cast, so obviously enjoying themselves, rise to the occasion to play the text for all its worth. There were some wonderful ad-libs, even the one that described your reviewer as a yokel! The songs and other music were beautifully arranged and performed (on authentic instruments) too. This is a very visceral and visual production, as befits the earthy text, despite its digs at Yorkshire … We saw spell-binding juggling and acrobatics, gods and demons (well, a Tory squire who was aptly booed), chickens and, um, red-hot pokers (think Marlowe's Edward II).

"Do you cluck?'
There is an appeal to youngsters, too. The Nun's Priest's Tale is played by farmyard animals, mainly poultry, and a dearth of young chickens on the night we went was made good by an eager and wide-eyed handful of the numerous children in the audience and, I was amused to note, a professional colleague of mine who was dragooned into stardom as "an old broiler.' I enjoyed his review in The Lancashire Evening Post on Monday 5 July, but would query his claim as "the Big Chicken'.

Then there was the unforgettable "Do you cluck, madam?' On the night we went, the police attended to ensure the safety of a missing child. What they made of the ribaldry I cannot tell, though they seemed unfazed. We are looking forward to their review in The Police Gazette.

"Made in Lancaster'
Cluck, hiss, heckle, gurgle and hoot with laughter we all certainly did as we progressed through the fine setting of the park and the Ashton Memorial. Answering the earlier question, "Does it work', the answer is a firm "Yes'. This is a whirlwind of a show, "made in Lancaster for the whole of the North West,' according to the programme.

Quite right – it is piece about all people, for all time. And far, far better entertainment than Big Brother and its vacuous, vapid stable-mates.

Copyright © 6 July 2004 Michael Nunn

Some Canterbury Tales Resources:

Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, ed David Wright, Oxford World's Classics, 1985, £3.99, the best modern verse translation;

www.bl.uk/treasures/caxton/homepage.html, for Caxton's early printed editions;

www.canterburytales.org, for parallel modern and Middle English versions;

BBC Schools "The Animated Chaucer', lively cartoon version shown from time to time on the BBC Learning Zone, Schools programmes;

"The Canterbury Tales', a six-part, star-studded BBC dramatisation set in contemporary British life (first shown 2003)