Full casting has been announced for Emma Rice's revival of Tristan and Yseult, with John Leader as Tristan and Nandi Bhebhe as Yseult leading a company of eleven actors and musicians on a 2026-27 UK and international tour.

The production, adapted and directed by Rice from the medieval Cornish legend by writers Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose, was first staged in 2003 by Kneehigh — the Cornwall-based company Rice led before founding her own Emma Rice Company. It was last seen on stage in 2017. This revival is co-produced by Emma Rice Company with York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse, and forms part of a new partnership between Emma Rice Company and Theatre Royal Bath announced last autumn to tour Tristan and Yseult and Malory Towers (WhatsOnStage).

Alongside Leader and Bhebhe, the cast includes Edward Rowe as King Mark, Matthew Churcher as Frocin, Tom Fox in the dual role of Morholt and Brangian, Stephanie Hockley as Whitehands, Nigel Sudarkasa as Love Spotter, and Jack Heydon as Love Spotter. The on-stage band features Pat Moran, Stu Barker, Harry Miller and Philippa Hogg, with Mary Johnson listed as alternate for the New York leg.

The creative team has several names familiar from the original Kneehigh production. Stu Barker returns as composer, with Simon Baker on sound, Malcolm Rippeth on lighting, and Etta Murfitt as choreographer and intimacy coordinator. The original set and costume design by Bill Mitchell has been refreshed by Vicki Mortimer.

Previews begin at Theatre Royal Bath on 11 September, with an official opening night on 17 September. From Bath the tour moves to Theatr Clwyd in Mold (22–26 September), the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow (30 September–3 October), the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (6–10 October), and the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh (20–24 October).

In November the production crosses the Atlantic to play St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York — a venue that has hosted Rice's work before. The band listing reflects this transatlantic move, with Johnson noted as alternate for that run.

Early 2027 brings the tour to Oxford Playhouse (26–30 January), Nottingham Playhouse (9–13 February) and York Theatre Royal (6–17 April). The two regional co-producers therefore bookend the back end of the tour, with Nottingham in February and York in April.

The production is one of two Emma Rice Company shows touring this autumn under the Theatre Royal Bath partnership, alongside the stage adaptation of Enid Blyton's Malory Towers.