Troilus and Cressida at Shakespeare’s Globe – review

Troilus and Cressida is a difficult play to define – it is present in Shakespeare’s First Folio, but it’s absent from the list of contents categorised by “Comedies”, “Histories” and “Tragedies”. In this early example of revisionism, the idols of classical myth are presented as layabouts who spend most of their time bickering and faffing around, rather than engaging in any heroic behaviour. On the strength of Owen Horsley’s production, it’s hard not to judge it as a broad satirical comedy, albeit one that doesn’t attempt a “happy” ending like other “problem” plays, Measure for Measure or All’s Well That Ends Well.

The action is set at a time of stasis in the Trojan War and Horsley’s production features a loose reality show framing in which the audience is invited to applaud and cheer the mediocrity on display. The warriors undertake half-hearted military parades to show off their physiques (accentuated by muscular armour) and skills with a spear. Achilles (David Caves), the greatest Greek warrior of all, has gone to seed and no one has any strategy.

It’s suggested that at this point, the Trojans are in the lead with their colour-coordinated tracksuits, while the Greeks are dressed in shabby grey. A giant golden foot is all that remains of an outsized statue, and the war is being fought on what remains of the grounds of a seedy carnival. The aesthetic mix of athleisure, rags, ‘80s nan and cut-price Strictly (designed by Ryan Dawson Laight) makes for a punkish if incoherent setting. The scenes are punctuated by jazz-punk musical interludes by Eamonn O’Dwyer, performed by a rag-tag military band.

Samantha Spiro is the standout as a gender-switched Pandarus the pimp, who’s like a dotty Albert Square market hawker with her garish orange hair dye and a voice suggestive of 60 cigarettes a day. Her interactions with her niece Cressida call to mind Juliet and her Nurse, and she doubles as the ancient Nestor who’s in a wheelchair and attached to a drip.

It’s difficult to feel too intently for the titular young lovers, who are relegated to a subplot in their own play. However, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Charlotte O’Leary are a credible pair, finding genuine connection in a time of war and providing a welcome contrast to all the surface-level posturing.

Lucy McCormick is strong as scavenger and wise fool Thersites. The way in which she doubles as the beautiful but maligned Helen is interesting, though the role is reduced to a tacky TV talent show turn (her song “Nothing But Love” is quite catchy, however). The queerness of the play is accentuated by Jodie McNee’s Ulysses as a tweedy, pedantic lesbian (she also doubles as Cassandra, who’s presented as an anti-war protestor in a “Free Helen” T-shirt) and Patroclus (Tadeo Martinez) is Achilles’ floppy-haired, American-accented toyboy.

It’s a challenging conclusion to the Globe’s 2025 season, albeit one that’s presented with a great deal of popular appeal. As an opportunity to tick this rarity off a Shakespeare bucket list, it’s probably about as accessible as this deliberately un-crowdpleasing play ever will be.