Tristan & Yseult
★★★★★ Brilliant
Lyceum: Tue 20 – Sat 24 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Tristan & Yseult, at the Lyceum until Saturday, is not only a hymn to the power of love in all its constructive and destructive beauty, but also a hymn to the urgency of the live theatrical experience.
The celebrated Kneehigh/Emma Rice production has returned several times since its 2003 debut, but this is its first tour for over a decade. It blends storytelling, music, physical theatre and a humour that is irreverent but ultimately true to the source. This provided a template not only for Rice’s subsequent work but also for so much of British theatre over the last two decades.
Nandi Bhebhe and John Leader with Stephanie Hockley, Harry Miller and Pat Moran in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.
And now it’s back, courtesy of the renamed Emma Rice Company, who are no longer known as Wise Children. Which is something of a shame but at least solves the problem of everyone wondering if they do theatre for adults. York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse are co-producers for a work that seems every bit as fresh as the day it was first seen.
Although Rice is listed as adapter as well as director, the writing credits are given to Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy, and the story draws on several different versions of the myth. Prince Tristan saves the kingdom of Cornwall for its King Mark, and is sent to bring back Yseult from Ireland as his queen. However, an unfortunate incident with a love potion means that Tristan is embroiled in a passionate connection with Yseult that is never going to have a happy ending.
energy and fun for several plays
The story is framed by a visit to ‘the club of the unloved’, where a raggedy cabaret band play up a storm and ‘love spotters’ with anoraks, balaclavas, binoculars and notebooks are marshalled by narrator Whitehands (Stephanie Hockley). It proceeds with the aid of song, circus skills, puppetry and laugh-out-loud moments. Actor-singer-musicians trample all over the fourth wall and display enough energy and fun for several plays.
Harry Miller, Tom Fox, Philippa Hogg, Edward Rowe, Nigel Sudarkasa and Jack Heydon in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.
Sometimes such gorgeous invention, flippancy and athleticism can come at the expense of the emotional content, but this is undoubtedly not the case in a production that very much wears its broken heart on its sleeve. The wonderfully physical John Leader (Tristan) and the charmingly convincing Nandi Bhebhe (Yseult) have a captivating chemistry, with Edward Rowe’s apparently stolid Mark having real depth – something that could also be said of Hockley’s Whitehands.
Then there’s the frighteningly versatile Tom Fox, as Irish king Morholt and Yseult’s maid Brangian, able to provide comedy as well as a moment that is possibly the production’s real emotional core. Not to mention the tremendously physical Matthew Churcher as Mark’s devoted Frocin.
amusing and desperately touching
The rest of the twelve-strong cast provide various roles as well as being the ‘love spotters’ and the band playing Stu Barker’s excellent music. There is also a well-chosen selection of existing songs; the recorded music is as likely to be Nick Cave as Wagner, while the ones performed by the cast can be both amusing and desperately touching. It’s also one of those productions where it pays to be in your seat before the start time, and to get back quickly after the interval.
Stephanie Hockley with Philippa Hogg and Pat Moran in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.
Rice’s direction is utterly impeccable, while her original choreography has been updated beautifully by Etta Murfitt. Simon Baker’s sound design and Malcolm Rippeth’s lighting are both tremendously evocative.
The late Bill Mitchell’s design has been ‘refreshed’ by Vicki Mortimer, and the result is a monumental cross between a ship’s rigging and a circus ring, surrounded by scaffolding, that imposes on its own terms as well as serving the narrative expertly.
sheer theatrical power
That narrative is expressed as much by raw emotion, a brilliantly-considered physical dimension and sheer playfulness as by words alone. Which is perhaps what Rice has given most to the theatre in this country. And this revival is no mere exercise in nostalgia, but a vibrant demonstration of sheer theatrical power that simply must not be missed.
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes (including one interval).
Lyceum Theatre, 30 Grindlay St, EH3 9AX.
Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Weds, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Edward Rowe and Nandi Bhebhe in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.
Tour dates: Book here.
Matthew Churcher in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.
ENDS
