DRAMA
Tristan and Yseult R E V I EW S E N I O R P RO D U C T I ON AT JAGS 2 0 1 6
Al Trevill
C ircus! Giant strips of material, harnessed by chunky, professional-looking clips, soar into the ceiling of the JAGS theatre space, and that tell-tale see- sawing music (expertly and originally scored by Alice Hopkins) immediately transports the audience into a world of pirouetting performers, wandering minstrels and mismatched colours. Seemingly, a hundred pierrot-painted faces implore and smile and cajole the audience to love, nay adore, the spectacle that is about to unfold. The ropes are untied; a crocus-like womb is created, and two lovers, Tristan and Yseult, emerge. The love triangle that is the core of this ancient tale has been the inspiration for Wagner, of course, but also for Thomas Malory in his English version of the tale, for Truffaut, for Ridley Scott, and for a host of painters – the Pre-Raphaelites in particular were attracted to the ornate setting and the tragic love affair of the young knight who brings back the beautiful Iseult for his ruler, King Mark, and falls hopelessly, heedlessly, headlong into a passionate, yet doomed, affair.
How brave, and original, then to dispose of ancient Cornwall and heavy, brocaded gowns in forest green, and to create an entire new world of circus performers and mime artists. Every character in this piece, wherever and whenever you looked, was completely on-song, echoing the lovers’ intertwining hands, using a classic physical theatre device of repeated movement, but elevating it to the level of art. This was a play that was all about the ensemble, and there was such fine support from bewildered clown Gbenga Chesterman, a wonderfully sly Frank Kauer, a child-like Peter Bristow and a cartwheeling Shehzore Adil. The actors from JAGS were similarly inspirational, and two, Flo Speight and Freya McCoy, I hear, taught the others how to conjure up balloon animals! This was a show that was also all about the process. A fantastic level of detail was achieved by the leads, and credit here must go to Emma Copland, the drama teacher from JAGS, and our own Emma Prendergast, who coached that small team not only in circus skills, but also the spirit of true clowning. Particularly memorable was Nathan Emoike’s
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