Review: Tavern’s trip to ‘Canterbury’ is a modern laugh at classic literature

Geoffrey Chaucer’s framework narrative of a bunch of people headed to church while indulging in some zany, sexy stories of sin gets a broad, modern spin in The Canterbury Tales, onstage at Shakespeare Tavern through September 29.

Director Kati Grace Kirby, working with an adaptation by John Stephens, has created a satisfying romp that’s full of silly variety. It’s got puppets, a tour bus, a boozy nun, references to The Godfather — even a cowboy shootout straight out of the OK Corral. It’s a sex farce that doesn’t always make the most sense, but the show doesn’t hold back. And it’s never boring.

The original anthology of tales was written in the 14th century, focusing on British pilgrims sharing bawdy, funny stories on their way to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. In those stories, folks from various classes poked fun at each other. That tradition continues in this take, though it also draws from other sources of British pop literature — including Mary Poppins and Harry Potter.

The six updated tales are acted out by Gabi Anderson, O’Neil Delapenha, Sarah Elaine, Nicholas Faircloth, Peyton Johnson, Adam King, Amy L. Levin and Vinnie Mascola. The script allows each cast member to quickly switch gears, changing roles from one moment to the next. The show requires the performers to be game, willing to do anything for a laugh.

King is particularly good when he’s playing first a buffoon priest, then a more sinister storyteller. But the wildest pivots in the show likely belong to Faircloth and Johnson, playing a dancing rooster and hen in great costumes designed by Anne Carole Butler and Clint Horne.

The puppetry — operated by the performers — adds a nice touch of whimsy, and the background with pop-out windows evokes the 1960s comedy variety show Laugh-In, which fits the show’s overall tone.

Though we aim for church to atone for our discretions, it certainly is fun to misbehave. The Canterbury Tales just wants to be a silly, good time, and it succeeds.

::

Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.