Tuesday, May 02, 2006  

On the Road Again
The trip to Canterbury goes by faster thanks to the rump jokes
Washington Post Express, Thursday, April 27, 2006; page 41

If you've ever wondered where Benny Hill came from, look no further than Geoffrey Chaucer's riotously funny and wildly flatulent "The Canterbury Tales." Though it was written in the 14th century, this legendary play has so many jokes about breaking wind, bawdy sex, butts and bosoms that you half expect "Yakety Sax" to start playing as the cod-pieced actors dash around the stage.

The Farrelly brothers might even blush during the masturbation, nose-picking and bare-bum-kissing scenes, but "The Canterbury Tales" is no "Dumb or Dumber" -- it's filthier.

And dirty is just how Chaucer liked it.

"All that is literally as described in the text," said Mike Poulton, who adapted Chaucer's play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. "The backside out of the window, the farting -- it's all in the original."

Yes, there are some serious tales among the 24 in "Canterbury," but the sheer number of jokes that revolve around the rump (and what comes out of it) will be a surprise if you've only read the play in English class but have never seen it performed. But Poulton swore it was all there 600 years ago: "Absolutely. It's very, very close to the original. Nothing has been added."

What Poulton did was tweak the late medieval English for modern ears.

"The intention was to stay as close to the original as I possibly could," he said. "So the language, with one or two exceptions -- one or two rather cheeky jokes -- I've kept as close as I can to the original. Sometimes I've included unfamiliar words because I liked them so much. Where the meaning of the word is obvious in the context, I've left it. Where it's more difficult, then I've replaced it with a word that's contemporary but that's from Chaucer's own time. So you get this feeling that you're not moving too far from the late 14th century."

The Royal Shakespeare Company is "the leading company in England -- and arguably in the world," said Poulton, and it is performing 18 of "The Canterbury Tales" at the Kennedy Center in two sections, each lasting three hours. "The two parts are independent of each other," Poulton said. "But I think it's best to see Part One first and Part Two second, but there's no need for that. People who have just seen Part Two on its own are perfectly happy with that, and there's as much variety in Part Two as in Part One."

In other words: You'll get tons of gas no matter when you go. CHRISTOPHER PORTER

Kennedy Center, Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F St. NW; through May 7, $25-$78; 202-467-4600. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
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Other articles in this edition of Express:
Louis C.K. (page 46)
Lila Downs (page 52)

I also wrote a preview for an OLD skool hip-hop show at the Show Place Arena on 4/30/06, but it didn't run in the paper. (A version ran online.) See how many lyrical references you can spot (all 3 readers of this site):

Tonight on the mic you're about to hear, I swear, the best darn rappers of the year (1988). The freaks will come out when P.G.County hosts MC Hammer, MC Lyte, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick. Stop! Oldies time? That's right, la di da di.

Doug E. Fresh is known as "The Human Beatbox" or "The Entertainer" -- no other titles could fit him plainer. Once upon a time not long ago, when people wore pajamas and lived life slow, Slick Rick was Fresh's running partner in the Get Fresh Crew before having a solo career that was derailed by prison. In the early '80s Whodini's R&B rap had crowds of people lined up inside and out for just one reason: to rock the house. And MC Lyte still does her thing with an '89 swing, but the dopeness she writes guarantees delight.

With a legendary lineup like that, sourpusses might be begging, "Please, Hammer: Don't hurt 'em with your weak rap!" But everybody knows MC Hammer is too legit to quit, and you still can't touch his baggy parachute pants. (If you had to cram to understand this preview, don't worry: It'll all become clear at "The Show.") CHRISTOPHER PORTER

Posted by CP | Link |

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