Review #1: DST's Canterbury Tales

It’s always exciting to hear that a student production is being done at the Gala Theatre; it gives you an excuse to go out in Durham (and actually feel like you’re really going out). Add onto that the fact that this is DST’s premiere piece done as ‘DST’ (instead of as a DST Company doing a show) and this ambitious show ends up having a lot of expectations imposed upon it before it’s even begun.

I’ll start by admitting to you all right now that I have just sat my second year Chaucer exam so Geoffrey and I have a real love/hate relationship going on right now. Yet the fact that I still enjoyed the show says so much about how well the cast and crew succeed in making this production a wonderful experience for us all.

I really enjoyed myself and the importance of that cannot be understated. The show had me properly laughing at times. It wasn’t flawless- I’ve heard it described as ‘having some hits and some misses’, but it was a gargantuan task for anyone to take on, let alone a group of students, so I wholeheartedly applaud Talor Hanson and all of her team for what they’ve managed to achieve.

Most of the issues with the show mainly stemmed from a lack of rehearsal time and limited promotion-if they had another week or so to work on this piece it would have been slick and seamless. Alas, the show has fallen a little too close to the end of exams and I believe that’s a real shame as the production really does have so very much going for it.

The cast were great, each pilgrim had their own personality which is something particularly important to any adaptation of the Tales. The Knight was serious, the Miller was rude, the Reeve was funny and I can honestly say that I did not feel let down by a single one of the portrayals of the pilgrims. Each tale had a different style and vibe to it, which I appreciated greatly and actually wish had been taken a little further.

The piece was a large ensemble effort, with the pilgrims sitting onstage watching the other half of the cast depict the stories, and I think that the job of shepherding that many people into a formation that allows the CT to actually come across is no mean feat.

Christie’s thoughts on the individual tales:

The Man of Law’s Tale – the story just felt like it would never end. I spent a lot of my time during this section asking why on earth this tale got chosen to be included in the stage adaptation over others (Like the Wife of Bath’s).

However, as with the whole show in general, the acting was excellent. George Ellis, the actual Man of Law, imbued his character with a sense of smugness and confidence that I found really endearing and the subtle way that he interacted with the cast depicting the tale at least attempted to keep me engaged with what was going on.

The Cook’s Tale – there are no words to describe what went on here. There were sock puppets pulled out of a cradle and it was all just a bit too muddled to come across as funny.

The Nun’s Tale – Let’s get one thing straight; Ben George’s Nun was hilarious from the very beginning of the show. However, the voice that he put on for the character really affected his clarity during the tale and came across as confusing. The scene looked fantastic visually, but the people around me were all pretty confused as to what had occurred. It wasn’t necessarily the worst of the stories, I think that its brevity is a major factor in that, but it wasn’t as well presented as some of the others.

The Knight’s Tale – this is the first story that gets rolled out and is probably another one of the tales that I felt dragged on a bit longer than necessary. Yet again, the actors were all very strong. There were some nifty fight scenes with big sticks that are worth a very special mention.

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale – I've always loved the story about the chickens. As far as I’m concerned, it’s easy to follow and one of the least complex of the tales. That did not, however, seem to be the case last night. Lucy Knight’s narration of the story was confident and clear but I’m afraid that the chicken voices used by some of the cast made it hard to follow. The sight of Adam Simpson in his chicken drag is, very importantly, almost worth paying to see on its own and he deserves some kind of mention in this review for that characterisation alone – I laughed a lot.

The Shipman's Tale – I think that Jake Hathaway's Shipman may have been my favourite storyteller. He oozed dominance and control when he took over the stage and it made what he had to say more engaging for me than it would have been otherwise. Other than the strange frame-things that got used, I honestly can’t find a single thing that I didn’t like about this section of the show. It was all very concise and clean so stood out from some of the other tales because of that alone.

The Miller’s Tale – this was the first point that we got to see the bawdier aspects of Chaucer and I absolutely loved it. It was depraved and twisted and everything that I hoped it would be. The puppets were a cool idea too.

The Reeves Tale – this tale had me ‘rofling’ from beginning to end as well as being very visually appealing. I’ll admit that I had to cover my mouth when the simulated sex started but that was purely due to a tendency of mine to guffaw incredibly loudly and a heartfelt desire not to disturb those around me too much.

The Canterbury Tales was a wonderful night out and is a show that breathes life into a text older than we can really fathom. I only wish that I’d gotten to see it before sitting my exam – I honestly think that it would have helped. I cannot praise the cast and crew of this show enough, Get yourselves down to the Gala tonight if possible, I can guarantee you’ll be laughing.

Photograph- by Durham Student Theatre.

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