SOME CANTERBURY TALES

Freely adapted from Geoffrey Chaucer by Ken Pickering with music by Derek Hyde

Ken Pickering has taken six of Chaucer's best known Canterbury Tales - the Knight's, the Wife of Bath's, the Pardoner's, the Franklin's, the Nun's Priest's and the Miller's - and freely adapted them for the stage. Derek Hyde has added music to suit the period. The style of the play is that of a spontaneous telling of a story by a group of strolling players, with all the Company taking various parts in enacting the different tales. One of the tales can even be played as a Victorian melodrama! With plenty of scope for direct, energetic improvisation this lively setting of some of the Tales is sure to prove very popular with youth groups and dramatic societies.

The Cast: variable, with 7 named roles:

The Miller: raucous, earthy, fun-loving.
The Knight: upright, courtly, dignified.
The Host: good manager of people, in charge all the time.
The Pardoner: slightly oily, wheedling.
The Wife of Bath: rotund, jolly, full of life.
Kit, Moll: serving wenches.

 Additional company as required

The Settings: Flexible

NB: There are no orchestral parts available.