Description

Here is a lively comic adventure in which the characters tell and perform freely adapted versions of Chaucer’s beloved The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Clerk’s Tale, The Friar’s Tale, The Manciple’s Tale, The Franklin’s Tale and The Pardoner’s Tale. Four pilgrims on their way to Canterbury have arrived at the Tabard Inn on a rainy evening in April 1385. They are a wife of bath, a nun, a knight and Geoffrey Chaucer. They are joined by two new arrivals who introduce themselves as a miller and a plowman. Over supper, the wife of bath suggests that they should entertain one other by telling their favorite stories. They proceed to do so, and the results are by turn amusing, moving and revealing of the six characters e so revealing that the two latecomers are exposed as thieves. One of the lawbreakers is driven from the inn. The other is offered a measure of forgiveness and accepted as a pilgrim. This play is a favorite with high-school actors and audiences. Production notes are available in the script containing details on set and characterization. Simple int. set. Costumes: rendered from the 14th century. Approximate running time: 75 minutes.