Tristan und Isolde, August 2025

Shatterbrain Productions / Regents Opera, The Arcola Theatre, Grimeborn Festival

This sold out production of Tristan und Isolde was one of only two happening in the world during the Summer of 2025 (the other was at the Bayreuth Festival!). Lighting and colour were carefully used to explore the symbolism of the piece, so that these resonated, echoed, and evolved throughout the three acts. I was also very interested to explore the place of myth making and ritual, and the psychology of the characters and their self reflection and introspection, with repeated gestures, mirrors, shadows, and water becoming important elements in this, and how these all integrate in the massive personal revelations of Isolde’s final Liebestod. The set was composed of only a few elements that transformed between the acts, so that each item attained a history of its own - the sails on Tristan ship for instance (symbol of his power and adventurousness) transformed into the veiled bower of his love making as he casts off his previous identity and hides from the court, and then finally become the bandages he drags about him in Act 3, as the inescapable weight of his personal history mires him in a spiral of suffering. You can read my programme notes here.

Alongside all this, I also aimed to tell the complex central story (and backstory) as clearly as possible, so that it would be as direct, gripping, and immediately accessible for anybody who had never seen or thought about the piece before.

Director: Guido Martin-Brandis; Designer: Caitlin Abbott; Lighting Designer: David Cunningham

Tristan - Brian Smith Walters

Isolde - Elizabeth Findon / Becca Marriott

Brangäne - Lauren Easton

Kurwenal - Oliver Gibbs

Marke - Simon Wilding

Young Sailor/Melot/Shepherd/Morold - David Horton

Cover Tristan/Steuermann - Robin Whitehouse

Conductor: Michael Thrift

Reviews (more to follow)

The Observer - Fiona Maddocks

“This reworking pushed attention towards voice and drama. Directed by Guido Martin-Brandis, cleverly designed, deftly surtitled, it was intense and thrilling. There was impressive singing throughout, notably from Elizabeth Findon taking on Isolde for the first time with rich, pure tone, as if born to the role. It could have been four hours of endurance, especially on a hot night, when it might have been cooler to go to a sauna. But this intimate Wagner gripped from start to finish.”

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Plays To See - Tim Hochstrasser

★★★★

“This was a very fine and memorable evening with talent, stamina, and thoughtfully projected dramatic vigour running successfully through it that reflected well on all concerned.

All of these aspects were present in the fine adaptation of Tristan at Grimeborn, presented with great dramatic lucidity by director Guido Martin-Brandis. Gestural acting is selective, significant and meaningful between the main characters. The set offers hints of the ship in the first act, a love nest for the second, and a sick-bed in the finale; but the tone is set by the excellent expressionist lighting as much as by the basic drapes, tin-foil backcloth and balcony watch tower. The focus is very much on the presentation of the confronting glories of the music, which even on this reduced scale comes across in all its startling, angular, uncomfortable modernity.

…an exceptionally atmospheric performance of Act Two. [Tristan and Isolde’s] synergy in the central panel of the opera is wholly convincing, reminding you forcibly of how astonishingly penetrating this opera is in analysing romantic passion and self-absorption.

The central performances are well supported by some technically accomplished and well acted contributions. Simon Wilding … is fully to the pitch of King Marke’s disappointed, broadly empathetic humanity, so that his key monologue is deeply affecting.”

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Opera Magazine - Mark Valencia

“…it had no right to be as powerful as it turned out to be.

The abstract simplicity of Caitlin Abbott's moody designs suited the opera's interiority very well, as did Davy Cunningham's unfussy lighting. The director Guido Martin-Brandis served the scenario well and never diverted attention from the action. He had an admirable eye for visual tone, nowhere more than in the lovers' second-act Liebesnacht.

I had the good fortune to hear Becca Marriott, the alternate Isolde, give her sole scheduled performance. The soprano delivered this ineffable role with rich-toned confidence and unerring focus while inhabiting a physical interpretation that was harrowing and true.”

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London Pub Theatres - Susan Elkin

★★★★

“Intimate. yearning, finely sung”

Guido Martin-Brandis makes good directorial use of the space which has seating on three sides and three entry points. No one is far from the performers so the piece – usually mounted on a huge scale - suddenly becomes very intimate. That’s a challenge for actors but these seven performers rise to it with aplomb.

When Brangäne substitutes an aphrodisiac for the poison Isolde and Tristan think they’re drinking in a suicide pact, they give vent to their hitherto suppressed yearning. The tenderness they then find is nicely done in this production – especially in the “Night of Love” duet which they start back-to-back with fingers interlaced and the audience can almost feel the erotic quivering of their muscles.

Caitlin Abbot’s set and Davy Cunningham’s lighting help to build atmosphere. Crumpled foil, gauzy white drapes which become bandages and a model boat are often flushed passionate red and it’s pleasingly supportive of the action.”

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A Youngish Perspective - Alex Norm

★★★★

“Timeless, powerful, thrilling.

This rendition leans into the sexuality of the story in a way that previous presentations have not.

The chemistry between Tristan and Isolde is palpable. The nearness of the performers invited the audience in, allowing them to experience an intimacy and understanding of emotion not possible in a larger setting. Watching Brangäne panic as she swapped the love potion for death was particularly captivating.

A performance worth seeing.”

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Mark Aspen Reviews - Patrick Shorrock

“His lovers are certainly more sexually expressive than in many productions. Most of the productions I have seen seem rather more desire-averse and emphasise – whether intentionally or not – that the couple are a good deal more than half in love with easeful death.

Martin-Brandis understands these paradoxes and doesn’t make the mistake of thinking that his production can or should resolve them. He gets involved and convincing performances from his cast.

…splendidly atmospheric lighting.”