Hear ye, hear ye! On November 31, the second annual “Canterbury Tales” Storytelling Contest officially came to a close, with its winning team—Lexi Barna ’25, Reid Rosenberg ‘25, and Matthew Pollak ’25—enjoying the thrill of victory. Barna won with “Sappy the Stump,” a story about a tree stump who finds a sense of purpose in a world of full-grown trees. Clad head-to-toe in a camouflaged Gilly suit, Barna commanded the crowd’s attention and narrowly beat out her rival storytellers, Colton Seidel ’25 and Andrew Gedde ’25.
But it’s evident that each team in the finals put a significant amount of effort into their stories and presentations, a testament to their dedication and creativity.
In the contest, which was started last year in eleventh-grade Research into Anglophone Literature, students are broken into groups and given two full class periods to come up with a story—any story. Though the contest is inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” the stories don’t need to be set in the Middle Ages; they can be about anything, from sentient tacos to Andrew Tate. The caveat is that they will be judged, like the stories in Chaucer’s own text, by two criteria: entertainment value and moral instruction. After competing in class, teams then advance through a tournament bracket that eventually culminates in the finals.
To rise to the top requires immense effort—hours of memorization, constant practice, and meticulous costume preparation. Remarkably, however, they did it all without the incentive of a grade. This was a known fact beforehand, yet it didn’t deter the participants. They were motivated by two things: the grand prize (a Mister O1 gift card) and pure determination.
“I do like Mister O1 pizza, not enough to warrant this much work,” said Seidel, who finished in third. “But,” he continued, “it was fun. I really liked performing with all of my competitors. If I got the choice to do this all over again, I think I would.”
Seidel told the first story in the finals, a satire of Andrew Tate called “Hustler’s University.” “I have no clue why I’m here. I just kinda showed up one day, and then won in class,” he remarked.
Despite his initial lack of planning, however, Seidel’s dedication to his performance was evident in every aspect, including a striking costume which included a bald cap, a fake beard and mustache, the most hustle-y glasses ever, a muscle suit, and an attitude that could convince anyone to invest in crypto.
“I’ve already memorized it, so I’m just sort of committed to it, you know?” Seidel said.
Next up was runner-up Gedde, who said he was “feeling excited, but a bit nervous. I want to make some people laugh.”
That wish came true almost immediately when he stepped into the role of his character, “Brady the Surfer Dude,” and delivered his first line: “Hey broooos, totally stoked to tell this gnarly tale.” The story, a retelling of “Jaws” from the perspective of the lovesick shark, was a riot, kicking up waves and laughter among the crowd.
Barna closed out the competition with her winning performance as Sappy, telling a wild story about the tree stump’s encounters with different tree tribes that was much more than it seemed. She also shut down several staged interruptions from her other group members, a Chaucerian maneuver that the three guest judges—Mr. Adam Schachner, Ms. Elisabeth Anderson, and Mr. Paul Natland—cited as one of the features that put the story over the top.
Initially, Barna was “volunteered” as a speaker, a situation that raises questions about the true meaning of “volunteering.” Despite this, she said, “I wasn’t expecting to make it this far in the competition.” The story Barna’s journey tells is one about the importance of pushing beyond comfort zones and embracing unexpected opportunities. Despite the contest being ungraded, her dedication to her team and the performance was unwavering. “I’m really proud of what my team was able to do,” she said, emphasizing the collective effort behind her success.
The Class of 2025 set a high bar with this contest, but freshmen and sophomores are already making plans. “Mister O1 is the craziest pizza ever. And from what I’ve seen, I’m gonna have to go all out for that card,” said Daniel Fernandez ’27.
