Radio-controlled balloon sharks. Puppets. Sex. Middle English. Yo-yos. Modern day prophets. Yesyesyes. If you want a feast of what contemporary theatre can offer, go see The Canterbury Tales!
James Vaughan, and brothers Constantine and Michael Costi have a singular quest. They want to find out who we are. What does it mean to be a 21st century Australian? What do we owe to our Anglo-Saxon heritage? At least one debt is certain; we owe our stories.
Like Chaucer did so long ago, the show questions how we tell stories that are appropriate to a given format, space and time. The opening sees the stage minimalistic but with traditional overtones and a uniformed ensemble cast affirm this. Patterns are broken consistently, though, and the cast ought to be praised for moving between so many demands fairly fluidly. Equal parts reality, fiction, irony and sincerity, The Canterbury Tales will tickle some audiences, bore a few members, and hopefully confuse in the careful chaos that unfolds.
If The Canterbury Tales were a resume, we'd hire Vaughan, Constantine and Michael. It's interesting and timely. Their vision suffered only from minor technical glitches that the show will polish. For a piece of theatre you want to surprise you, you can't go past The Canterbury Tales.
