The Road to Canterbury (theatre review)

When I arrived to the Queen Elizabeth Park (thanks to David Miller, who picked me up at the office as he was the winner of the tickets that the kind organizers of The Road to Canterbury sponsored) I was greeted by Simon Ogden, who is one of the strongest theatre forces in this city. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I had some idea that the performance would be good.

As I indicated previously, when I read the press release for The Road to Canterbury, I knew that I was going to see some exploratory, experimental reinvention of Chaucer’s tales. And what a reinvention this was! I don’t think I can make justice to the excellent performances of everyone in the cast without giving away much of the plot, but suffice it to say that you should really see it. Five of Chaucer’s Tales of Canterbury are re-enacted in a modern time, fourth-plane exhibit.

An interactive experience of The Road to Canterbury and a supporting cast who are able to stay in character and interweave their storylines with the tales themselves are only two of several strategies that Sebastien Archibald uses to enrich the participant’s experience. Each one of the tales is retold, in faithful homage to the original, but with a twist and a strong link to current events.

Like Chaucer himself, Archibald uses the absolutely gorgeous backdrop that the Queen Elizabeth Park offers to create compelling stories that offer social commentary and criticism to our status quo. I had an absolutely delightful time, and I would strongly recommend you to attend. Thanks to Itsazoo Productions for the invite to see this performance, and for sponsoring tickets for one of my lucky readers.

You can read more about The Road to Canterbury from my preview post located here.

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