Wesleyan Brings Steampunk to 'Canterbury Tales'

Wesleyan School’s upcoming production of ”Canterbury Tales” will include a “Steampunk” twist to the classic Chaucer work.

The school’s theatre director, Steven Broyles, is not only directing the play – he also wrote it.

Although Chaucer wrote and set his tales during the latter part of the 14th century, Broyles chose to set the play during the latter part of the 19th century and, to add that extra visual edge, he chose Steampunk as the main aesthetic. The bulk of the production is also in an updated English translation.

Broyles, in his 12th year of directing and teaching at Wesleyan, saw the opportunity back in the spring when he was carefully considering this year’s line-up of plays. Putting on a play that is required reading in an English class may not seem like the popular choice.

“You have to first establish a level of trust with your audience and those considering what they will do for an extra-curricular activity”, says Broyles. “It would have been a disaster to try this my first year teaching. Everyone likes to see the “familiar” which ends up being a very short list of shows. What we have done this fall is remind everyone of something they are familiar with, and give them a new perspective.”

All total there are more than thirty students involved in this production—the most students ever in a non-musical at Wesleyan

The six tales featured in this production are The Knight’s Tale, The Wife of Bath Tale, The Franklin’s Tale, The Man of Laws Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale and The Nun’s Priest Tale. The play runs Oct. 22, 23 and 24 in Powell Theater. For tickets, go to www.wesleyanschool.org and click on Fine Arts.

Submitted article