Southwark Playhouse, London
****
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in a 14th
century pub complete with live folk music and the fantastically told folk tales
to match, then Tacit Theatre’s production of The Canterbury Tales might just be the play for you. Now in the
last leg of its tour at Southwark Playhouse, this production of Chaucer’s short
stories is performed with such abundant character and charm, even those with an
aversion to older theatre will be well and truly entertained.
From entering the auditorium the audience are immersed in
the 14th century world of the ‘Tabbard Inn’. Four of the cast
members are playing energetic folk music with an array of instruments including
an accordion, lute, violin and guitars; the tightness with each other and
remarkable harmonisation was completely natural and relaxed, displaying an
impressive musical talent from all of the cast members. The two cast members not in the folk
band greeted audience members as they entered, and chatted to those already in
their seats. I was lucky enough to be given a personal poem by the Landlord
(John Canmore) as I sat down, ever so slightly uncomfortable, but Canmore’s
likeability and enthusiasm overshadowed this, so for the audience members and
myself who were fortunate enough, these interactions were highly effective in immersing
us.
The overall design for this piece is enormously inviting, orange
light glows through the smoke hinting at a comforting fire, and coupled with a
set consisting of wooden barrels and assorted furniture dotted around a bar
that can only be described as ‘ye olde’, the result is a wonderfully warming
atmosphere. The stories are interspersed with some rousing folk musical numbers
thoroughly cementing the lively pub atmosphere, and impressively all sound
effects are created live with inventive use of the instruments. The cast are
incredible in remaining completely slick throughout, even whilst bounding
around the fictional pub; this is a production with some very talented
individuals and the chemistry between them is a joy to watch.
The stories themselves were highly entertaining, ranging
from the raunchy and immoral to the more moral and fable-esque. The company
seemed strongest and provoked the best audience reactions from the raunchier
stories of the collection; their portrayal of fornication (although a little clichéd)
was nothing short of hysterical, with cross-gender characters and an incredible
pair of fabric breasts, they really do delight in the bawdy. Although the more moral tales are very
well performed and entirely enjoyable, in comparison to the raunchier stories
they lack energy. Unfortunately these tales are grouped in the second half of
the piece so after the interval the energy did drop, still very compelling,
just not quite as entertaining as the first half.
Despite the imbalance between halves, Tacit Theatre manage
to pull off a wonderfully fresh production of a Chaucer’s 14th
century tales; in their hands his work has aged like a fine wine instead of
feeling old and gone off. The humour hits, the music uplifts, and the stories
engross; this telling of The Canterbury
Tales is an excellent piece of immersive theatre.
This production runs
until 22 December 2012.
For more information: http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/the-vault/the-canterbury-tales/
@swkplay
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