The pilgrims of the medieval classic The Canterbury Tales get a modern facelift!  Inspired by Chaucer’s characters, The Southfield Stories re-imagines some of the more well-known stories, but now the pilgrims are teenagers in the suburb of Southfield.  The Prioress is a preacher’s daughter, the Squire is a water boy for the high school football team and the Summoner is a unique punk rocker, to name just a few.  You see, each spring break, every goodie-two-shoes, geek, freak, jock and Goth from Southfield High School embarks on a pilgrimage by bus to seek adventure in the big city.  Through the narration of wide-eyed and eager Charlie Jefferson, we meet ten very different high-schoolers stranded at the bus stop in the rain.  Trying to keep dry and entertained inside the nearby home of lonely latch-key kid Bailey Harrison, they take on the challenge of a storytelling competition.  Characters ranging from a rooster who recites Shakespeare to an Amazon queen to the meanest girl in school come alive as the tales are spun by the students.  Each tale is a skillfully contemporized version of the original tale from which it was derived (the Knight’s Tale is told by popular jock Mike Knightly), presenting Chaucer’s ideas in a style to which teens can relate.  Requiring few resources beyond a lot of energy and imagination, The Southfield Stories is highly entertaining in its own right.  It’s also just the thing to jump start — or wrap up — studying The Canterbury Tales, thanks to the helpful study guide included in every script.