This is an organised event following Government guidelines. A full risk assessment has been conducted and social distancing regulations will be observed.

The Canterbury Tales 

Performed by veteran Cornish actor and a founder member of Kneehigh, David Mynne, at Yeo Valley Organic Garden, courtesy of Sarah and Tim Mead.

Welcome to ‘The Canterbury’, an Olde English Inn:
Infamous around these parts for villainy and sin.
The floor is fresh with sawdust for soaking up the spit.
And the air is full of stories, told with wisdom, guile and wit.
Some of them romantic, some are bawdy, others scary
And there are tales about the devil that should make you oh so wary.
Some are beautifully poetic and some a little coarser;
A medieval medley from the pen of Geoffrey Chaucer!

From the company that brought you ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Great Expectations’, ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Odyssey’ comes a one-man performance of ‘The Canterbury Tales’. 

Revered as one of the most important works in English literature, ‘The Canterbury Tales’ paints an ironic and critical portrait of English society in the middle-ages. 

All of life is here in these few bawdy, funny, serious and sometimes shocking, short stories. Experience a journey down the foul and fetid footpaths of fourteenth-century England, told with the usual irreverence, wit and silliness! 

Expect archaic naughtiness and nonsense! Possibly tights and a codpiece! Definitely medieval swearing! Let’s party like it’s 1387!

This is Chaucer… but not as you think you know it!

Please bring bring your own chair

This is an outdoor event, so dress for the weather. In case of extreme weather the event will be cancelled and you will be refunded.

For adults and older children (12+)

If the show has to be cancelled due to Covid-19, a full refund will be given.

Director: Simon Harvey
Performer: David Mynne
Associate Director: David Twomlow
Script (very loosely adapted from the original!) by Simon Harvey, David Mynne and Anna Maria Murphy     

Quotes from David Mynnes’s previous shows

A Christmas Carol was beautiful – apparently simple theatre with just one actor but you go home remembering a cast of dozens! He is a genius. Richard Wolfenden-Brown:
Director The Plough Arts Centre (on ‘A Christmas Carol’)

Mynne’s performance is exquisite: a masterclass in the telling of tales, it needs to be seen.
Ciaran Clarke: Arts End of Nowhere (on ‘Dracula’)