Chaucer: That one famed name can be enough to induce fear into the hearts of so many people - inaccessible language combined with the fact that the man himself died over six hundred years ago means that it’s easy to dismiss 'The Canterbury Tales' as neither relevant, readable or entertaining in today’s world. So thank you to By Moonlight Theatre for reminding us that this doesn’t have to be the case; the five actors on stage sang, danced and pranced their way through 'The Pardoner’s Tale' and judging by the amount of laughter coming from the stalls, the audience enjoyed the performance even more than the actors.
The Pardoner’s Tale is the story of three men on a quest to find death, but distracted by their own greed, their quest is forgotten. All of this is told from the point of view of the pardoner who both condemns and demonstrates greed himself. The production managed to bring out the comedy in Chaucer’s writing through cross dressing, dance numbers and even a little bit of audience participation, proving that just because it was written in the middle ages, that doesn’t mean that we’re immune from the infectious humour of Chaucer’s writing.
At times, the clarity of the production was sacrificed for comedic value; despite having me in stitches, I left the theatre slightly unsure of the significance of all the (hilariously done) cross dressing, and I was completely lost when, for a brief period, one of the three men was swimming with a crab. However this was only for a brief period, so despite a bit of confusion the plot was still easy to follow. I initially feared that the lack of words in the performance would make it harder to understand, but was later proved wrong; the lack of words was more than made up by the actors: Exaggerated mime, big facial expressions, and the inclusion of a guitar player on stage to soundtrack the majority of the performance meant that, once accustomed to the style, the plot flowed with ease. The actors did a fantastic job in creating believable and relatable characters: the pardoner himself inspiring both laughter and unease, whilst the three men provided both comedy and the more serious message about the dangers of avarice.
Essentially, this slightly mad but fantastically fun production of 'The Pardoner’s Tale' proves that both Chaucer and By Moonlight Theatre really know their stuff.
