Gessnerallee
Zürich

It has been seven years since Christoph Marthaler’s controversial cult version of «Tristan and Isolde» held its premiere at the Bayreuther Festspiele. At his side was Anna-Sophie Mahler as his assistant director. For six summers she then travels on her own to the Grüner Hügel to direct the annual revival of the show. In August 2012, the last performance takes place, Anna Viebrock’s stage design, weighing tons, goes to the scrap yard. But seven years are a long time one cannot simply throw overboard. Too many questions remain unanswered, too many doubts are still there. Where Bayreuth ends, the Swiss theatre company CapriConnection begins: in an adventurous rescue operation, parts of the set design of the first act are brought to Zurich. The remains of Anna Viebrock’s stage design become a space of memories in the piece «Tristan oder Isolde». With the means of the independent scene the heritage of high culture is retold. In the form of a pastiche CapriConnection tell and sing about yearning and passion in a rational world, about the difficulties of finding the right person, about moments of inspiring togetherness, and also about the societal use of the couple and about economy’s abuse of romantic feelings.