Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (adapted by Phil Woods) - Jon Minstrel

- The New Vic Theatre of London. Originally directed by Michael Bogdanov.

My second outing for Micky O'Donoughue's New Vic Theatre of London following the ealier Buddy Holly at the Regal. Canterbury was one of the oldest staples in the New Vic's repetoire of plays and one much more typical of their tone of voice, with all the cast playing several roles and orbiting around the central anarchic presence of Micky, here playing the Miller (of course!). Lots of audience participation, "rehearsed spontaneity" and direct contact with the stalls create an 'anything goes' atmosphere that is the New Vic's appeal.

The conceit of this production is that the audience have actually come to see the five hundreth anniversary of the Geoffrey Chaucer storytelling competition. All the villagers have been rehearsing their various tales for months and are desperately hoping to win the coveted Geoffrey Chaucer trophy (prominently displayed at the back of the stage). All the villagers perform in each other's tales (hence the many roles) and the whole proceeding is (barely) organised by the local vicar. Some of the tales are high-minded and of serious intent while others are lighter, sometimes slapstick, comedies - just as in the original Chaucer. Of course, in order to keep the whole event above board and in good taste, the vicar has barred certain tales from the competition - one of them being, inevitably, the notorious Miller's Tale.

Micky, as the Miller, is not one to take this obvious unfairness lightly, and complains bitterly. As a consolation, the vicar allows him to tell some jokes to the audience between the stagings of the tales. So the running gag throughout the evening becomes Micky Miller telling a series of jokes which gradually (and without the vicar realising) become more and more hilariously dirty until the final joke of all is, indeed, the Miller's tale itself...and inevitably, when put to the audience's vote, it wins the competition much to everyone's horror!

Micky's Miller is the instigator of an evening full of anarchy and belly-laughter. Among the laughs, though, there are moments of quieter reflection and even poetry from the other tales. But the show really comes to life when the characters are dressed as giant chickens, falling from the skies in laundry baskets, miming vigorous sex behind a blanket or getting red hot pokers applied to their tender parts!

Just for the record, in this incarnation of the show and with this combination of tales, I played a cartoon fox, a silly knight (pictured) and a travelling student. I was later to be promoted to the vicar!