The void of utopian potentials: Heiner Muller's production of 'Tristan undIsolde'

This article examines Heiner Muller's Bayreuth production of Richard Wagner 's Tristan and Isolde in light of Muller's relationship to opera and theate r while also raising questions concerning the significance of Muller's enga gement at Bayreuth. Arguing that Muller and Wagner share a concern with the entwinement of enlightenment, myth and the unconscious, the essay demonstr ates how Muller's minimalist, anti-illusionist approach to Wagner's music d ramas demystifies its metaphysics of love and death and prevents the piece from achieving its phantasmagoric effects-a critical operation that links M uller's Bayreuth staging to his notion of the social purpose of art and the ater.