By Mark Harding
|
17th Aug 2024
|
★★

They are called Edinburgh Tales but are not really about Edinburgh, in the same way the model for this show, The Canterbury Tales, is not actually about Canterbury.

Updated spin-offs from Chaucer's originals

The tales are updated spin-offs from Chaucer's originals. Unfortunately, the show suffers the same problem as every attempt to re-imagine Chaucer as drama – the stories simply work better as narration. And the updating of the tales generally detracts from the originals.

This is a shame because the cast is skilled at getting the audience comfortably settled in, and the acting is fine – the players providing vivid characterisations across the multiple roles.

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Performances

Location

The Blurb

Theatre on the Edge returns to the Fringe after last year's production of Kerouac: And All That Jazz (***** (EdinburghGuide.com)). Edinburgh Tales is a contemporary adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales with the original bawdy humour, humanity and drama brought up to date in a 2024 retelling of four of the medieval stories. Instead of a pilgrimage to Canterbury these Pilgrims make their annual pilgrimage to Edinburgh. Are you a Fringe Pilgrim? Join us, the Miller, Knight and Wife of Bath at The Tabard Inn for an uproarious afternoon.