Tristan_Isolde cabfest imageSurreal, poignant and equestrian.  

A cabaret version of Wagner’s grand opera that is part vaudeville, part circus and part diva.

 

View it now:

https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/steve-sheehan-s-tristan-and-isolde-fringeview

Performed by Steve Sheehan, Norma Knight and Arapahoe the miniature horse  .  Directed by Steve Sheehan with Jo Stone  .  Designed by Kerry Reid  .  Lighting designed by Nic Mollison  .  Sound designed by Stuart Day  .  Horse trained by Jaci and Joey McEvoy  .  Production Managed by David McLean  .  Produced by Belinda Hellyer

Isolde catches fly on couch smallerIn a backstage dressing room two faltering artistes tell us their love story. As she puts on her make up and costume Isolde sings of her longing from a variety of operas.  In between, Tristan tells jokes while accompanying himself on piano.  And a unique version of Wagner’s famous love story emerges. 

 

 

King Mark in leather jacket and horse website size

The cabaret begins and ends with King Mark and a miniature white horse following him about – annoying, wild and unopposed.  At the beginning, he optimistically shares his translation of one of Isolde’s songs – Liebestod –  at the end he watches on the dressing room monitor his elusive betrothed  make her stage entrance.  

REVIEWS FROM WORK-IN-PROGRESS SHOWINGS

“Hilarious… tinged with an eccentric melancholy…(four stars) – Herald Sun  read more...

vissi darte website size“unsettle(s) our relationship with what is funny, to reframe the avant-garde as farce without sacrificing its essential alienness” – Real Time Arts  read more..

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“Something about this show grips you, setting you into a trance-like condition of quiet glee and bafflement”  Adelaide Theatre Guide  read more…

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Adult themes, suitable for some children.  Duration 55 minutes.

 
photo credits: Sam Oster publicity shots

John Trentino – Performance shots