David Porter » Reviews » The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
version by Impulse Collective at The Garage, Norwich
Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 22 October 2015
Touring professional performers Impulse Collective brought their take on Chaucer’s 14th Century epic Canterbury Tales to the Garage arts centre.
It was a zany, physical interpretation taking a set of well known, but ancient, tales and turning them into an accessible message and commentary for modern, contemporary times.
The 24 stories that form the contest among a group of pilgrims walking to Canterbury remains the base structure, but with added ‘now’ touches such as speed dating, lashings of physical and improvised comedy and some genuine, spontaneous audience participation.
Those were juxtaposed with moments of real, heart-felt depth of emotion and feeling as the search for personal truth was explored through relationships and abuse.
It was a well-judged performance by five young actors at ease with their skills and they related superbly to the packed audience of almost entirely students who joined in, made judgements and surely learned a lot about drama techniques and how to realise a challenging text.
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