STAGE REVIEW : ‘Canterbury’ Tales’ Ribaldly Told by New Vic Theatre

If you think a dramatization of Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” by the New Vic Theatre of London, staged as a storytelling competition on a vicarage lawn, sounds the least bit staid, think again.

This is the kind of Chaucer that might inspire randy sophomores to major in English in order to increase their dirty joke inventory.

The comedy is powered by Mickey O’Donoughue, the company’s co-founder. A roly-poly lecher with an irrepressible glint in his eye, O’Donoughue’s Micky Miller doesn’t just act in the tales. He also occupies the set-changing times, in between tales, with a staggering assortment of off-color jokes that might have made even Chaucer blush. And he makes numerous forays into the audience.

Anyone who’s shy about that sort of thing should arrange to sit in the center of the house.

The tales themselves are told in story theater fashion, with a few outrageously funny costumes and props thrown into the mix. The sequence is determined by audience draw, and everyone is invited up to the stage for punch during intermission.

The show opened at the Norris Theatre in Rolling Hills Estates on Thursday but moves to the much larger Beckman Auditorium at Caltech for tonight’s performance.

“Canterbury Tales,” Caltech, Beckman Auditorium, Michigan Avenue south of Del Mar Boulevard, Pasadena, tonight at 8 p.m. $22.50-$27.50. (800) 423-8849, (818) 356-4652; TDD (818) 356-4688) Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.