Scunthorpe Little Theatre’s Alex Hall below explains how he fell in love with Chaucer as a teenager, and how he is now bringing Chaucer to the masses as director of the Little Theatre’s production of The Canterbury Tales.
I’ve loved Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales ever since I read them as a teenager and collapsed in fits of laughter over the Miller’s Tale as the rudest and funniest thing I’d ever read (I led a very sheltered life)! Chaucer gives us a window into ordinary people’s lives in the late 14th century and I’m delighted to be bringing his masterpiece to life in May when I direct Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club’s production of The Canterbury Tales in a lively Modern English adaptation by Martin Riley.
The show began life as a piece of improvised street theatre before becoming a touring four-hander and eventually a play script for the Key Stage 3 English curriculum. But if that’s made you groan and switch off, this script could not be further from most people’s memories of English Lit at school.
It’s a riotous and fast-moving romp through the most popular book of its time, revealing the fun and accessibility beneath the medieval text. Think street-theatre meets panto combined with a dose of Horrible Histories, audience participation and bare bottoms being kissed, “full savourly” to quote Chaucer himself.
Four immortal medieval Alchemists provide the framework for the show. They engage directly with the audience and encourage them to be part of the performance. On the 25th of October 1400, they tell us, they discovered the Elixir of Life. After having drunk of it themselves, they save a little for Geoffrey Chaucer, but it’s not enough. He’s not quite dead, but he isn’t quite alive either.
In a dramatic attempt to bring him back to life, they invite five of Chaucer’s pilgrims: The Pardoner, The Nun’s Priest, The Wife of Bath, The Knight and The Miller to tell their Canterbury Tales. They are helped by a band of Travelling Players who recreate the feisty women, conceited chickens, sighing lovers, medieval hooligans, crafty students and sexist knights in those Tales.
Chaucer’s characters and the universal human themes in the stories they tell are still recognisable today, making them not only entertaining but also relevant. Certainly the moral of the Nun’s Priest: “Remember to be on your guard against flatterers and all those who open their mouths when they should keep them shut,” is good advice to all… And if you want to know what the chicken costume is all about then book your tickets now!
Produced with the generous support of The Chaucer Heritage Trust.
See Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club present The Canterbury Tales at the Plowright Theatre from 14th to 17th May. Tickets cost £11.00 and are available from the box office on 01724 296296 or at www.scunthorpetheatres.co.uk.