See it if Shakespeare's Trojan horse of a play stuffed with nearly everyone from The Iliad & Odyssey will surprise you with its clarity. Strong cast.
Don't see it if Overt homoerotic relationships and the Trojan War fought with machine guns are too anachronistic for you in a swords and sandals tragedy.
See it if You want to see a play that's rarely produced done in an updated and interesting way.
Don't see it if You don't like sitting outside for a while. It's long. Very long.
See it if you want strong acting, a darker Shakespeare play based on the battle between Troy & Greece, & inventive staging.
Don't see it if false gunfire makes you uneasy, you dislike modernized Shakespeare plays, or you want easily accessible tickets. Do the in-person lotteries.
See it if you like a modern take
Don't see it if if you do not want to sit outside and watch a show
See it if you want to see a rarely performed Shakespeare play. Though I was confused about what was going on, the staging and acting was fantastic.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy Shakespeare's plays or like plays over 90 minutes long.
See it if you want a unique Shakespearean experience. Some really good acting and clever staging.
Don't see it if can't sit through 3 hours of Shakespeare.
See it if You're a bardophile with an interest in seeing a lot of resources thrown at a more problematic play.
Don't see it if If you're not willing to look past a poorly structured and confusing story for the merits of this production.
See it if You are a Shakespeare fan. Actors were good. Too long and repetitive
Don't see it if Strictly for fans of the bard. Slow for kids and drags on and is repetitive
"One of the problems facing Shakespeareans is whether ‘Troilus and Cressida’ ever was staged in Shakespeare’s lifetime. It has wonderful moments, brilliant language, bawdy humor, and vivid characters; it also bears relevant satirical messages about war and the corrupting power of lust. As Sullivan's competent but not especially memorable revival demonstrates, though, these disparate qualities aren’t enough to overcome a production whose most distinctive scenes belong in a ‘Rambo’ movie."
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"Sullivan appears to have decided that 'Troilus and Cressida' is a comedy…When so many performances are, at best, merely competent, only Sullivan can be blamed…Every once in a while, a chair or some other object used in a just-concluded scene is tossed into one of the unruly piles. Director Sullivan is surely implying how endlessly wasteful war is. Given this misguided enterprise, the mounting heaps become a metaphor for Shakespeare being trashed."
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“This production – so well directed by Daniel Sullivan and blessed with a cast of some two dozen top-notch actors – makes the case for ‘Troilus and Cressida’ as one of the great Shakespeare dramas, often puzzled over but hardly ever seen. The plot unfolds with clarity, and while Sullivan employs modernisms he completely honors Shakespeare’s language, and the wonderful performances make it accessible to our ears...You are unlikely to see as good in the foreseeable future."
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"'Troilus and Cressida’s' main problem is its sprawling story line, split between the battlefield and the bedroom...Sullivan overcomes the unwieldy nature of the play with a tight modern-dress production employing Uzis rather than swords and shields. Parallels are drawn between America’s military involvements and the ancient squabble over Helen of Troy’s romantic habits. The love match between the title characters takes a back seat to literally explosive battle scenes and military intrigue."
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"The battles in a way overshadow the thwarted love story that is key to the plot...The production is dynamic, but overlong, and director Sullivan obviously has worked hard to find ways to keep our attention, especially with the gunfire onslaught that erupts with appropriate, smoky scenic effects...Since 'Troilus and Cressida' is rarely performed...this mounting provides a chance to freshly evaluate it. On that score alone, it is worth seeing."
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"At a time when war, lack of gun control and terrorism are ubiquitous in the news, it strikes me that subjecting us to something so theatrically realistic and compelling achieves the complete opposite...Having said that, acting and staging are skillful and energetic...Director Sullivan uses the mostly empty stage evocatively. His solders, with few exceptions, are cliché coarse and/or officious displaying no individuality. (Much of this may be the writing.)...As depicted, war is skin curdling."
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"The play is an odd mix of comedy and tragedy, which director Daniel Sullivan has tried to blend with limited success...Sullivan uses the play to deliver a message about the futility of endless war, with its ripples of bad consequences...Overall, though, the message is muddled both by the inconsistencies in the play and the seeming randomness of the staging, which includes, for a climax, a lengthy gun battle that might have been taken from a mindless action movie."
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"'Troilus' has been naturalized into 2016 idiom, making it delightfully easy to follow, if you don’t mind all the mugging that comes along with it…The final 20 minutes of the second act are almost non-stop smoke and gunfire. My sole gripe with the production was an over-reliance on hand-to-hand combat sequences, which are difficult to pull off for extended periods without calling attention to their staginess."
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