Canterbury Tales - Volume III, The
Author : Geoffrey Chaucer
Performed By : Full Cast Performance
Publisher : Select Music & Distribution
Runtime : 3 hours 35 minutes
Categories : Poetry
Classic Literature
Dramatizations
Classics
Short Stories
Our Price : $15.49
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The Friar's Tale
The Summoner's Tale
The Lawyer's Tale
The Seaman's Tale
The Prioress's Tale
The Manciple's Tale
The Physician's Tale
Seven more Tales presented here in unabridged modern verse - an ideal way to appreciate the genuinely funny and droll talent of England's early master storyteller. The group continues its pilgrimage to Canterbury, talking with each other, their interaction mediated (sometimes) by the affable Host - Chaucer himself. Eight leading British actors bring the medieval world into the 21st century, and at least in terms of character, not much seems to have changed!
The Canterbury Tales, written near the end of Chaucer's life and hence towards the close of the fourteenth century, Is perhaps the greatest English literary work of the Middle Ages: yet it speaks to us today with almost undimmed clarity and relevance.
Chaucer imagines a group of twenty-nine pilgrims who meet in the Tabard Inn in Southwark, intent on making the traditional journey to the martyr's shrine of St Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. Harry Bailly landlord of the Tabard, proposes that the company should entertain themselves on the road with a storytelling competition. The teller of the best tale will be rewarded with a supper at the others' expense when the travellers return to London. Chaucer never completed this elaborate scheme - each pilgrim was supposed to tell four tales, but in fact we only have twenty-four altogether - yet, with the pieces of linking narrative and the prologues to each tale, the work as a whole constitutes a marvellously varied evocation of the medieval world which also goes beyond its period to penetrate (humorously, gravely tolerantly) human nature itself.
Chaucer, as a member of this company of pilgrims, presents himself with mock innocence as the admiring observer of his fellows, depicted in the General Prologue. Many of these are clearly rogues - the coarse, cheating Miller, the repulsive yet compelling Pardoner - yet in each of them Chaucer finds something human, often a sheer vitality or love of life which is irresistible: the Monk may prefer hunting to prayer, but he is after all a manly man, to be an abbot able. Perhaps only the unassuming, devoted Parson and his humbly labouring brother the Ploughman rise entirely above Chaucer's teasing irony; certainly the Parson's fellow clergy and religious officers belong to a Church riddled with gross corruption. Everyone, it seems, is on the make, in a world still recovering from the ravages of the Black Death.
Translation by Frank Ernest Hill, [1935-).
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Arthur's Dream
Author : Fire Springs
Performed By : Various
Publisher : Awen Publications
Runtime : 2 hours
Categories : Historical
Dramatizations
Music Related
Poetry
Biographical
Our Price : $16.99
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The epic of King Arthur-from his conception in sorcerous lust, to the shining wonder of his kingdom, to the scattering of his warriors in search of the Grail, to the tragic endgame of betrayal and bloodshed - all encompassed by the secret cave where Arthur still sleeps, waiting to return.
A magical blend of spoken word and music brings alive "The Matter of Britain" - the story of King Arthur and the Quest for The Grail, drawing on earlier sources than the well-known medieval versions - the Celtic Arthur depicted in the Welsh Cycle The Mabinogion being more darker and dynamic. Follow him as he harrows the Underworld to bring back the fabled Cauldron of Plenty - and how he suffers the consequences.
Fire Springs came into existence in 2000 through Bath Storytelling Circle and performances in Bath Fringe and the Bardic Festival of Bath.
Arthur's Dream premiered at the Rondo Theatre, Bath in May 2001.
Other Fire Springs product ions include The Thinning Veil, Finding the Thread, and Robin of the Wildwood.
Fire Springs
Anthony Nanson founded Bath Storytelling Circle in 1999. He has told stories and run workshops in venues around the country and teaches a popular course in storytelling and mythology at the University of Bath. His stories and critical writing have been published in several magazines and books.
Kirsty Hartsiotis is a former member of the theatre group The Lords of Misrule, which specialises in medieval drama. She has performed in and produced numerous plays, including the Arthurian romance Sir Launfal. She has a special interest in storytelling for heritage venues.
David Metcalfe is a folk musician and storyteller with a particular interest in the indigenous British tradition. He is a singer, guitarist, and bodhran player. A former field archaeologist, he maintains an active interest in the early medieval period.
Kevan Manwaring was drawn to Bath by the legend-filled landscape of the West Country. His epic poem Spring Fall won him the Bardic Chair of Caer Badon in 1998. He has performed and run workshops in venues around the Southwest and has produced seven collections of poetry, including one on CD.
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