"Tristan and Yseult"

If the three plays I have seen during the Piccolo/Spoleto Festival in Charleston are any indication, the plays shown during the festival aren't staged in a 'straightforward' way. That is, instead of a simple, straight telling of the story, the shows have a 'hook' -- something to make them stand out from other performances. Some people would call this 'artsy.' Others would call it 'artsy-fartsy.' I just find it interesting to see the result of someone else's vision for the play. For example, the play we saw on Sunday used a deck of cards to determine the order of the scenes in the play. Last year's "The Doll's House" staged the play using a miniature set (the doll's house) and male actors who were Little People. The females were 'normal' sized. Because of the small set and the size difference with the men, the women seemed out of place -- which I think was one of the things the director wanted us to take away from the play. "Tristan and Yseult" was also done in a very unique way. The story is your basic love triangle with complications. Not being an expert, I am not sure of the correct terminology to describe the staging, but I will do my best. The story was narrated in a fashion by a (for lack of a better term) Greek Chorus of seemingly sexless people who wore waterproof jackets, glasses, and balaclavas (we Americans might call them hoods). They also carried binoculars around their necks and used these to peruse the audience from time to time. The story is tragic, but this group added some real comic relief. They also doubled as part of the Tech Crew, using pulleys and ropes to help the actors acheive the objectives of the play, etc. Before the show started, the Chorus was entertaining with some well-chosen songs. I found it funny to hear Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" sung in a British accent. Very funny. One of my favorite uses of the Chorus was the way they showed that the characters were sailing across the ocean -- a Chorus member would hold a model of a masted ship, carrying it across the set. Sometimes it was quite comic. All in all, I enjoyed it, although we did notice a few people left at intermission. Such a shame, they missed a lot.