Tristan & Yseult Returns to London at Alexandra Palace in 2027

Tristan & Yseult, the show Emma Rice first created with Kneehigh in 2003, is coming back for its first London run in ten years. The original production plays Alexandra Palace Theatre from 11 to 27 March 2027, its first time in the capital since Shakespeare’s Globe in 2017. Find dates and details on our page for Tristan & Yseult at Alexandra Palace Theatre (coming soon).

When is Tristan & Yseult at Alexandra Palace?

The run starts on Thursday 11 March 2027 and ends on Saturday 27 March 2027, with press night on Friday 12 March. Evening performances start at 7.30pm, with matinees on selected days. There is an audio described performance on Thursday 18 March at 7.30pm and a captioned performance on Wednesday 24 March at 2pm.

The show runs for 2 hours 10 minutes, including a 20-minute interval, and is recommended for adults and brave children aged 8 and over. It contains strobe lighting, haze, loud noises, smoking, and implied sexual activity and violence. After London, the production heads to York Theatre Royal from 6 to 17 April 2027.

Who is making the London return?

This run is co-produced by Emma Rice Company, Alexandra Palace Theatre, York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse. Rice adapts and directs, as she did when Kneehigh and Rice first produced the show more than two decades ago, from a script by Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose. Emma Rice Company is the director’s own troupe, previously called Wise Children.

Stu Barker composes the music, and Bill Mitchell’s original set and costume design is refreshed by Vicki Mortimer. Etta Murfitt is choreographer and intimacy coordinator, with lighting by Malcolm Rippeth and sound by Simon Baker.

Who is in the cast?

The performing company is led by John Leader as Tristan and Nandi Bhebhe as Yseult, with Edward Rowe as King Mark. Matthew Churcher plays Frocin, Tom Fox doubles as Morholt and Brangian, and Stephanie Hockley plays Whitehands. Jack Heydon and Nigel Sudarkasa are Love Spotters, joined by musicians Stu Barker, Philippa Hogg and Harry Miller, with Pat Moran as performing musical director.

Several of the cast have worked with Rice before. Leader, Bhebhe, Churcher, Fox and Hockley were all in her Wuthering Heights, while Rowe’s television work includes Beyond Paradise, and he also performs stand-up as his comic character Kernow King.

What is Tristan & Yseult about?

At its heart is a love triangle between King Mark, his queen Yseult and Tristan. Their forbidden love story unfolds through live music, comedy and movement, with the Club of the Unloved offering a different view of the passions of those at its centre.

According to the producers, the production’s return has been met with acclaim, with five stars from The Times and BroadwayWorld and four stars from The Guardian, WhatsOnStage and The Stage. The Guardian called it “utterly irresistible”, while WhatsOnStage declared: “Every theatre lover should see it at least once.”

Why is this revival such a big deal?

Tristan & Yseult opened in 2003 in the open air at Restormel Castle in Cornwall and Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire. It played the Minack Theatre in 2004 before being reimagined as an indoor production for the National Theatre’s Cottesloe in 2005, and it has since toured the world. Its venue for this return is a story in itself: Alexandra Palace Theatre first opened in 1875, spent 80 years closed to the public and reopened in 2018.

For fans of Rice’s other work, this is a chance to see a show billed as one of the most influential theatre productions of the 21st century. For newcomers, it is a rare return, remade and remastered, and March is not far away. Keep an eye on our page for Tristan & Yseult at Alexandra Palace Theatre (coming soon).