There’s always a warm welcome at Trinity Theatre Cowes, the venue for CAODs production of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

The bawdy Middle English tales were adapted by the show’s director, Gwen Stevens into a fun piece of community theatre that kept the comic story-telling feel of the original and made it accessible for a contemporary audience.

The set and costume design superbly conveyed the world of mediaeval England. The use of projections in one corner, subtly aided scene changes. They created a great atmosphere as you walked into the space and all those elements complemented the story really well.

Stevens’ staging had a wonderful community feel. Actors read from scripts whilst others recreated the tales.

It felt like we were watching a group of people at the pub telling stories which resonated nicely with the original source material. It didn't take itself too seriously, it was silly, simple and enjoyable.

Hosted by Paul Stevens as the playwright, who bears a striking resemblance to the portrait of Chaucer in the programme, delivered a solid performance even if his nose was very much stuck in the script he was holding. 

Steve Taverner also helped host the evening as the pub landlord who decided which tale was going to go in which order.

The most notable performance was from Joel Leverton, an accomplished performer on the Island stage with great presence, bundles of energy and brilliant characterisation.

He helped bring each of the stories to life and helped drive the pace of the performance. Each role was varied and delivered with great comic timing.

Phillip Baker’s often absurd delivery was so ridiculous it became very amusing throughout. His rapport with Leverton (which often saw Baker as the butt of the joke) became a great running joke throughout the show. 

A particular highlight was, of course, the Miller’s Tale. Fart and bottom jokes are still as funny as they were over 600 years ago.

Leverton and Baker were joined by promising young actress, Ruby Beaman, for this tale. The use of a naff fake bottom, the glee on Leverton’s face and the repulsive gurns from Baker led to a particularly funny moment.

Once they had got past The Miller's Tale and the audience became more responsive to the silly jokes, the performers all felt a lot more comfortable and confident which gave the second half some much needed energy and pace.

There was music by Rosie Sales, some very funny chicken costumes and a bonkers performance by Karl Whitmore in the final tale which received a lot of laughter.

Yes, at times it felt a bit prude and they could’ve had a lot more fun with Chaucer's filthy jokes and stories and it would’ve been nice to find more for some of the female members of the cast to do, but it was an enjoyable evening at the theatre and a pleasant retelling of this classic text.