"Tristan and Yseult" by Kneehigh Theatre Company at the Guthrie Theater

"Warning: You may come in contact with latex balloons." Not something you see often at the theater, but if there's anything I know about Kneehigh, a theater company out of Corwall, England, it's to expect the unexpected. Four years ago they brought their delightful adaptation of the movie Brief Encounter to the Guthrie Theater, and then to Broadway, where it was nominated for two Tony Awards. I saw it at both locations and found it absolutely delightful - fresh and innovative and imaginative. Kneehigh returns to the Guthrie with Tristan and Yseult - how fitting that a Cornish theater company would adapt the legend about the forbidden love between a Cornish knight and an Irish princess (see also the Wagner opera Tristan and Isolde). Kneehigh's production premiered over ten years ago and is currently on a US tour, and it's just as fresh and innovative and imaginative as the last time I saw them.

Here's a little tip for you - get to the theater early to be entertained by the band at the "Club of the Unloved," with a white-gloved, cat eye glasses-wearing lady singing standards like "Crazy" and "Only the Lonely." Meanwhile, people in black rain jackets, knit hoods, and thick glasses are wandering around with binocolars taking notes. As the show begins, we learn that they are members of the Club, constantly on the look out for love and lovers. Through them we learn the story of Tristan and Yseult, as the hoods come off and the actors become characters in the story. Tristan is sent by King Mark to retrieve Yseult from Ireland to be his bride. Along the way they fall in love due to a love potion. But upon arriving at Cornwall, Yseult finds that she also loves Mark. What follows is a beautiful and tragic love triangle.

Kneehigh is able to tell this story with the deep emotion it requires, but also with a lightness and playfulness and sense of wonder. In addition to the aforementioned balloons (which require a bit of audience participation), they make use of swings, ropes, pulleys, trampolines, many musical instruments (played by the four-piece band and ensemble members), and other props. In the middle of the stage is a circular raised platform where the main action takes place. In one scene the main characters swing from ropes, and it's almost as entertaining to watch the people on the other end of the ropes as they throw themselves off the platform and run to the end of the stage to lift them off the ground.

Carly Bawden croons as Whitehands

Most of the actors in the eight-person ensemble play the knit-hooded members of the Club of the Unloved as well as characters in the story. Standouts include Etta Murfitt and Andrew Durand as the lovers, Giles King as the King's jester-like right hand man, and Carly Bawden as the white-gloved lady known as "Whitehands" (until we discover her true identity), who functions as the narrator and also the primary singer, moving the story along and providing commentary. But I think my favorite of this great ensemble is Craig Johnson (not to be confused with the local actor/director), who is equally great as the dangerous Irish invader who comes in like a ganster and Yseult's lady's maid, a role which could have been merely played for laughs (which it is to some extent, note her hilarious entry to the stage), but Craig also lets us see a real and tender-hearted side to the character.

Kneehigh Theatre is so unique in what they do, incorporating physicality, music, aerial work, and other innovative elements, and infusing such heart and playfulness into their work, that I would have recognized Tristan and Yseult as a Kneehigh production even if I hadn't known. They're in town through March 23, check them out for a truly unique and delightful theater experience.

"Brief Encounter" on Broadway

Brief Encounter is a production of the Kneehigh Theatre Company out of Cornwall, England. It made three US stops, including at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, before landing on Broadway at Studio 54. I saw it in March of this year and absolutely loved it, one of my favorites of the year so far. It’s innovative, fresh, and perfectly lovely. I didn’t notice any differences between the show I saw at the Guthrie and the one I saw on Broadway, except for a few casting changes. It’s a nine-person cast, some of whom function primarily as musicians and some primarily as actors, but almost all of them do some of both. Brief Encounter is technically a play (it was listed as such on the TKTS board), even though it contains just as much music as a musical. But it’s more like a play with musical interludes, rather than a traditional musical with characters breaking into song. It’s based on the Noel Coward play Still Life as well as his movie adaptation, Brief Encounter. It uses film and music to help tell the story of two people who meet at a train station and fall in love, despite the fact that they’re married. Their romance is doomed from the start, but that doesn’t stop it from being beautiful, life-changing, and buoyant.

There are frequent little vignettes in the show that interrupt the main action of the play, which makes it feel almost vaudevillian. Here is where the ensemble cast shines. Before the show starts they walk around the theater, dressed as 1930s movie theater ushers, and singing and playing songs of the period. They all play multiple characters and multiple instruments. The sweet and funny “new love” story between Stanley and Beryl and the “love again” story of Myrtle and Albert serve as a nice contrast to the doomed love story of the main characters.

Brief Encounter is innovative in the way that it uses media to depict the inner and outer action of the story. There’s a screen at the back of the stage where images such as sky or water are projected. At times scenes are projected onto a smaller screen made of vertical strips at the front of the stage, allowing the actors to step in and out of the picture. The train is depicted as a little toy train pulled across the stage, and also by a projection onto yet another screen pulled across the front of the stage. At one point the lovers literally swing from chandeliers. There was a Q&A after the show, and one of the actors commented that what is normally felt internally is expressed externally in this show.

Every movement is so specific, so full of meaning, that not a moment is wasted on any corner of the stage at any time during the show. From the way someone holds a teacup, to a gentle touch between lovers. It’s a delightful show that will break your heart, make you laugh, and give you hope. It feels like something that should be done at some little experimental theater, which I think it was, and I’m thrilled that it ended up on Broadway.

Update: watch a video about opening night here.