Hunting Death
A telling of Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale
As a schoolboy, this tale moved me deeply, especially the figure of the old man knocking with his staff on mother earth to let him in and so end his life.
As a storyteller, I have long wondered how to move away from Chaucer's great literary creation and find my own version which would work in performance.
Exploring some of the earlier versions, such as the one in the Buddhist Jataka Stories, was a starting point.
Another version is found in Cento Novelle Antiche (Hundred Ancient Novels) a fourteenth-century Italian collection.
What Women Most Desire is my version of another story Chaucer tells as The Wife of Bath's Tale.
More deep tales
The video gallery has become very extensive. So if you would enjoy more tales like this which explore the depths of the human psyche, here are a few suggestions.
The video clips here are all amateur quality, shot in various theatres or, as here, in my home studio.
Their intention is just to show the range of my storytelling and give a flavour of a live performance.
Permission is granted for use in non-commercial educational contexts.
The videos are © Richard Martin.
Professionally recorded CDs and DVDs are available here.
Go here for tales to watch
Go here for a list of all tales included on this site
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Permission to tell outlines my views on copyright
For those who are teachers: Telling stories in the classroom: basing language teaching on storytelling