BWW Reviews: TRISTAN & YSEULT - A Marvelous Blend of Modern Theatre and Good, Old-Fashioned Storytelling

Berkeley Rep's Tristan & Yseult is one of those shows that combines the best elements of modern theatre with good old-fashioned storytelling and does so with amazing brilliance. It all seems effortless, but what does it actually take to bring this ancient and tragic tale of passion and betrayal to life each night with such precision and genius? From across the pond comes Cornwall's Kneehigh Theatre Company with their wonderfully inventive and thoroughly British way of telling stories, and we find that great gobs of cheekiness, imagination and daring are what it takes - but it also needs an enthusiastic audience for the sparks to really fly. I highly recommend that you help make those sparks fly and help in the co-creation of Tristan & Yseult which is playing now through January 6, 2014 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

One can easily imagine the Kneehigh Company as some long ago merry band of troubadours traveling the byways of England in search of an audience with which to create their magical theatrics. They seem to thrive on the energy that their audiences bring, making each night a new adventure. On opening night for Tristan & Yseult, excitement was high as patrons were met by actors wandering randomly about the stage and then into the audience. The curiously dressed ensemble seemed to be observing various couples and occasionally they took notes and made small talk. Later it's revealed that they are "lovespotters," viewing romance and passion as outsiders, chosen, it would seem, by destiny to be unloved. In fact they make up the "Club of the Unloved," and some of their members also provide a scintillating mélange of music in styles ranging from opera to mambo, circus, ballad and punk as well as country-western. A character named White Hands (the wonderful Carly Bawden) is their lead singer - and also the main narrator for the night.

Other than the Unloved (who appear in various get-ups that include black-rimmed glasses, strange headgear, hoodies and sweaters), designer Bill Mitchell has the men outfitted in 1960's mafia type suits while the women appear in beautiful 60s full-skirted dresses and, of all things, deck shoes. It seems an odd choice of costuming to tell the tale of a 12th century love triangle but somehow it works.

White Hands is here to tell us the sad saga of the young lovers, Tristan (Andrew Durand) & Yseult (Patrycja Kujawska), but also of ancient Cornwall's King Mark (Kneehigh founder Mike Shepherd). The old king prides himself on ruling with his head and not his heart until his eyes behold the fair Yseult, whom he claims as his own after defeating her brother Morholt (Craig Johnson) in a war not of his choosing.

The king is besotted, but Tristan, who at his king's behest has brought Yseult to Cornwall, has fallen in love with her as well and on the voyage over...after wine and a magic potion work their spell, Yseult is in love too.

Kujawska and Durand have a wonderful chemistry together. Their sexually evocative antics take place on Bill Mitchell's spare but imaginative set. Ropes, pulleys and straps lift the two young lovers into the stratosphere where hot kisses and bold entanglements occur as love smolders, writhes and is finally consummated.

Worried that the king will find out about her indiscretion Yseult enlists the aid of her virgin maid Brangian (the cross-dressing, dual role playing Craig Johnson) to be her stand-in on the wedding night. The hoax seems to be going well until the king's courtier Frocin (Giles King) unwittingly fouls things up for all.

Tristan & Yseult is a heady mix of sexual and dramatic tension and humor; a wonderfully inventive, thoroughly British concoction that brings tragedy and the passion of forbidden love to the stage in a thoroughly satisfying and highly enjoyable way. It's a definite "must see."

Tristan & Yseult
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice
Written by Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy
Now through Jan. 6, 2014
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
www.berkeleyrep.org

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