A landmark dramatisation for the Royal Shakespeare Company of one of the foundation stones of English literature.

This two-play adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales encompasses the full span of the original work, containing 21 separate stories. All the famous characters are here – as well as many less well-known but equally full of life. Each of the stories has its own style – heroic verse for the Knight's Tale, vernacular rhymes for the Miller's Tale etc – echoing the many narrative voices employed by Chaucer himself.

Mike Poulton's adaptation of The Canterbury Tales was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 2005.

'Rumbustious and passionate... this is quite simply a glorious compendium of stories and poetry' — Daily Mail

'Scintillating... Poulton's admirable version... what takes one's breath away is the range of styles and emotions on display' — Guardian

'Mike Poulton's superb adaptation is both faithful and accessible, comfortably inhabiting the middle ground between Middle English and the modern vernacular' — The Times