Troilus & Cressida

A war caused by one love affair destroys another.

Seven years have passed since the Greeks first began their siege of Troy to recapture Helen, and on the Trojan side of the walls the beautiful Cressida, aided and abetted by her hilariously intriguing uncle Pandarus, has embarked upon a passionate love affair with Prince Troilus. When Cressida is forced to join her treacherous father in the Greek camp, can their love survive a difficult separation or will it join the other casualties of war?

Shakespeare fills his ancient tale with savage comedy, great passion, vivid characters and all the heat and sweat of a long and painful campaign. He seems never more modern than in dealing with the subject of a tragic love pursued in the midst of a pointless war.

Directors Note

In Shakespeare's time acting was considered no decent task for a woman, so the female roles were played by youths and young men. This led to the number of parts written for women being disproportionally few, and indeed in auditions for previous plays by Shakespeare which I have directed for the LOST Theatre Company, we have found ourselves turning down excellent young actresses.

In 'Troilus and Cressida' there are only four women's parts, three of those being small, compared with twenty-one named men. So I decided to reverse this trend, making no alterations in the text, by cross-casting the play and giving the ladies a chance to carry the action's full weight of clashing personalities under the stress of war, while letting the men experience the sheltered female perspectivce. The result, we hope, will be instructive.