Troilus and Cressida

Your Experience

Why watch Troilus and Cressida

Troilus and Cressida is at once satirical and comedic and at other times a deeply moving and painful psychological drama. Referred to as one of Shakespeare's "problem plays," it is often seen as difficult to understand, since the jarring tonal shifts make it hard to follow each character's true motivations and journeys. Yet, the play has been successfully adapted for the stage several times, the latest being an adaptation for the Globe Theatre that brings its various plots together seamlessly.

The story

The Greek forces under King Agamemnon and the Trojan forces under King Priam are engaged in the Trojan War. The godlike heroes, Achilles and Hector, stand at the forefront, their epic duel being one that will be talked about for ages to come. Yet, in the background, wages a different kind of battle: the love affair of Priam's son Troilus and Cressida, who has just been exchanged with the Greeks as a prisoner of war, causing the lovers to be separated across enemy lines.