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For
generations this has meant English literature lessons spent grappling
with the poet's seemingly incomprehensible Middle English.
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The
Wife of Bath's Tale made modern
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Yet
Chaucer's work has survived 600 years for a reason: His extraordinary
ability to spin stories of morality and immorality, with a great
dollop of humour thrown in. It's just that the language he used
isn't exactly very accessible these days.
But
all this is about to change with the launch of a new BBC TV series
based on the tales, but brought up to date.
And
by pure co-incidence, October will see two separate productions
based on the Canterbury Tales in Shropshire theatres.
The
basic starting point of the Canterbury Tales is a group of 30 14th
Century pilgrims gathered on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.
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Billie
Piper appears in The Miller's Tale
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As
they travel, the group, who come from all walks of life, kill time
by telling stories to each other. Each storyteller also tries to
out-do the previous one.
As
the printing press had yet to be invented, the stories survived
in handwritten manuscripts handed down over the centuries.
Starting
this week, BBC is serialising adaptations of six of the best-known
Canterbury Tales, only with the characters and the action transported
into more of a modern setting.
For
this latest attempt to bring Chaucer to the masses, the BBC has
assembled an all-star cast including Julie Walters, Jimmy Nesbitt,
Om Puri, Jonny Lee Miller and pop star-turned actress Billie Piper.
Closer
to home, Oswestry's Attfield Theatre Company has chosen to take
on the Canterbury Tales for its first production of the new theatre
season.
The
Attfield, which incidentally celebrates its 75th anniversary this
year, has picked another modern adaptation of Chaucer's work for
its version of the Tales.
Back
in the 70s, Phil Woods and the acclaimed director Michael Bogdanov
- taking a distinctly un-academic approach- re-assessed nine of
the 24 tales and presented them as an entirely new play.
Performed
in modern English, the setting becomes an annual tale-telling contest
with an emphasis on audience participation and a cast of outrageous
characters.
The
idea was to take a well-known classic and turn it into popular -
and funny- theatre.
Characters
often address the audience, as well as roping them in to the performance,
while the tales themselves are served up with a vaudevillian spin,
a wicked sense of humour, with a taste of the bar-room brawl thrown
in.
Participants
are often heckled by other members of the cast, while the action
loses none of its Chaucerian bawdiness. In fact, it quite revels
in it.
The
Attfield Theatre Company has picked seven of these tales for its
production, with a large cast involving members of all ages.
It
opens on Monday 6th October and runs until Saturday 11th
October. The Attfield Theatre is based in The Guildhall, Bailey
Head, Oswestry.
Each
performance begins at 7.45pm prompt.
The
theatre is wheelchair accessible and there is a lift for those who
cannot manage stairs.
Tickets,
priced £4.50, are available from the Box Office at the Guildhall,
The Bailey Head, Oswestry. Tel: 01691 680222.
You
can also reserve tickets by email. Click
here to reserve tickets.
Meanwhile,
yet another version of Chaucer will arrive for one night at the
Shrewsbury Music Hall in October.
The
California-based Geoffrey Chaucer and Company will perform a musical
version of The Clerk's Tale and the Merchant's Tale. This show takes
place on Tuesday 21st October at 8pm.
Tickets
cost £9(£7.50 concessions).
To
Book
Box Office opening Hours 10am - 8pm Monday to Saturday; Sundays
and public holidays, one hour before the first performance.
By Telephone
Call the Box Office on 01743 281281.
By Post
The Box Office, The Music Hall, The Square, Shrewsbury, SY1 1LH.
Cheques and postal orders payable to S.A.B.C.
Online
Via the Music
Hall's website.
The
BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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