ONE of the most celebrated writers in history, a genius with a unique insight into human nature and an ability to turn it into epic poetic stories which changed the face of English literature and still capture the imagination.

Not, of course the RSC's original muse but Chaucer, that spinner of yarns from 200 years earlier. The Tales have been divided into two separate shows but with the same cast, in a superb adaptation by Mike Poulton, which pays tribute to the medieval poetry of Chaucer without at any time allowing the language to obscure the meaning.

Each character on the pilgrimage tells their tale which is performed by the other actors. Some are riotously funny, notably, of course, the Miller's tale with its cuckolded Carpenter played to comic perfection by Darren Tunstall, and the famous scene in which Absolon finds himself kissing the wrong cheeks of the woman he loves!

Others, like the Clerk of Oxenford's Tale, are deeply moving, which made it all the more annoying at Press night on Wednesday when an unchecked mobile phone went off during a particularly moving moment and it was a miraculous feat of concentration which allowed Katherine Tozer (Grisilde) to continue.

Director Greg Doran spoke for us all when he boomed into the gallery 'switch it off!'.

The rest of the action, directed by Doran, Rebecca Catward,and Jonathan Munby, includes song, dance, puppetry (a hilarious panto-style chickens chorus in the Nun's Priest's Tale) and, at the opening of Part Two, Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas as a rap, which brought the house down.

Chaucer himself is played by Mark Hadfield, a dry, detached onlooker to the events, scribbling notes as the actors tell their tales. The audience warmed to his wit and charm and greeted him with affection every time he came on as a character. His puppetry and voice work as the chicken Chanticleer in the Nun's Priest's Tale were another comic highlight.

Ironically, the ringtone on the offending mobile was Joplin's The Entertainer. It was the only thing the owner got right because the RSC has shown once again with these productions that it loves to entertain.

The two shows run in repertory until February 4. Part One is marginally the funnier and more rumbustious of the two but if you have a chance, see both, especially if an uninspiring teacher bored you with Chaucer at school, as mine did.

But please turn off your mobile.

Box office: 0870 6091110.

Review by STEVE EVANS