Review: The Canterbury Tales****

at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds

Without the star turn of Lenny Henry on stage, could Northern Broadsides still pull in an audience?

That was the question when the Halifax company came home to Yorkshire with its latest production.

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Fortunately, the answer was yes, but not as emphatically as it did when Big Len was on the books.

Which is a shame as this production, compared with last year's Othello, is a much more rounded and stronger piece of theatre with Conrad Nelson, who played Iago in that production, here taking the helm as director. Nelson is a safe pair of hands, and remains inventive and witty.

The major complaint about the production is a seemingly facile one – its length.

Running at just under three hours, the show is a big ask of its audience. Broadsides' Wars of the Roses ran over the course of a whole day and was wonderful (in particular Nelson as Richard III), but here the epiosdic nature of Mike Poulton's adaptation, with stories being told one after the other, is not a strong dramatic arc. You'll leave the theatre remembering a few choice highlights rather than the whole. Fortunately there are many, many highlights.

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The cast are excellent, with Broadsides regulars joined by new faces and all working their socks off. If Nelson can find a way to shave a little length off, this would be a perfect Broadsides show.

To Apr 17.

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