Tristan and Yseult: 2003
- Director: Emma Rice
- Writers: Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose
- Musical director: Stu Barker
- Designer: Bill Mitchell
- Lighting Designers: Alex Wardle and Malcolm Rippeth
- Sound designer: Gregory Clarke
You can hear Bill Mitchell describing the design of Tristan & Yseult here
“Outward! Outward lies the way! Inland there’s little to talk about and much less to say!”
I just thought, I wonder what happens if the Chorus are like bird watchers but they’re looking at love? I remember suggesting everybody put on a funny balaclava and anoraks and start looking for signs of love, and I swear by that point, there was only three weeks of rehearsals left to go and I've never seen a room take off like that: those Kneehigh clowns, their love spotters were a thing of absolutely, unstoppable, instinctive wonder and that never, ever changed.
At the time of making the show in the early 2000s, Emma and I were really into Tarantino and films like Pulp Fiction: bloody good storytelling and great music. This Tristan & Yseult is a Tarantino version of a medieval story. This show was made to be outdoors. The structure is invented for the outside: the storytelling, dance, action and music are outward facing – the direct, honest acting exemplified by Craig Johnson (as Brangian) in this show is to do with being in daylight and being able to see the audience and then, as darkness falls,letting the fourth wall in and deepening the emotion and sense of tragedy.
