When the first act opened and our narrator Geoffrey Chaucer spent the next few minutes talking in olde English you could see the looks of astonishment on the faces of some of the audience.

Go to see a stage adaptation of a piece of 14th Century literature and you might expect it to be complex in places – but not practically indecipherable to all but scholars of medieval language.

Thankfully this was merely a device to set the scene and it soon settled down into something altogether more comprehensible.

The New Vic Theatre and Northern Broadsides Theatre Company have joined forces to stage an ambitious reworking of this historic classic, which is often credited as one of the greatest collections of stories ever told.

The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury (stick with me here, it gets juicier).

All walks of life are present in this rich medieval tapestry, from a genteel prioress and nuns to a cook with personal hygiene issues.

They are set the challenge of each telling a tale to pass the time along the journey.

Chaucer originally included 24 of these tales, although these have been edited down to just 10 for the New Vic production.

And they range from moral and slightly stodgy to bawdy and often downright lavatorial.

The best-known of the tales are all featured, including those of the Knight, Miller, Wife of Bath and Merchant.

Humour and morality are cleverly juxtaposed, each heightening the other.

Do be aware, however, that a lot of the content is very near the knuckle.

'Swyving' and bodily functions were clearly 14th Century preoccupations, and the production does include some nudity.

The 16-strong cast is a particularly large one for The New Vic and, from the very beginning, the stage was awash with people and activity.

But each and every one of those 16 earned their keep, multi-tasking with countless roles, singing, playing musical instruments, moving the set and even manipulating puppets.

There were a couple of first night stumbles over dialogue, but that didn't detract from the whole in any way and was probably to be expected with such a complicated script.

When the Royal Shakespeare Company staged a similar adaptation of The Canterbury Tales a few years ago, with all 24 stories, the full show lasted for more than six hours.

Although pared down, the New Vic production runs from 7.30pm until almost 11pm, with just a brief interval.

By the end of the evening I felt exhausted, but also well and truly entertained.

The Canterbury Tales is at the New Vic Theatre until Saturday, March 20. Call the box office on 01782 717962 for tickets and performance times.

Jenny Amphlett