Troilus and Cressida

Synopsis

Written around 1601 the play is set in Troy and the Greek camp outside the walls during the great siege. Trolius loves Cressida, daughter of a Trojan priest who has defected. The siege goes on all around with tales of Ajax and Achilles but no real progress. Troilus and Cressida are parted when Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner and we leave the siege still as fruitless as ever.

Our Review:

13 February 2003

The contrast could not be starker. While commercial success and awards continue to elude the RSC, Bristol-based Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory goes from strength to strength. Hot on the heels of the announcement that the company is holding talks with the Barbican about performing the Bard at the London venue recently vacated by the RSC, comes the launch of this, the critically-acclaimed Bristol company's fourth season.

Troilus and Cressida, is one of the least often performed plays by Stratford's finest but its theme is distressingly pertinent; namely, war and its corrupting effects, however just the cause. The play opens in the seventh year of the Greek siege of Troy and the conflict is at a stalemate. Meanwhile, Troilus, son of the Trojan king, has fallen in love with Cressida, daughter of the Trojan seer Calchas, who has fled to the Greeks led by Agamemnon.

Excellent though the verse-speaking is and intimate the venue, I must admit I struggled du...

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