Troilus and Cressida (Delacorte) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (148)
See it if you're a fan of Shakespeare's and are trying to see all his works performed (this one isn't often seen on stage).
Don't see it if you haven't slept. Being Shakespeare, it's naturally dense material. I saw it while in a drowsy state and had difficulty following the plot.
See it if How many times have U had an opportunity to see ANY production of TROILUS & CRESSIDA, nevermind a 1st rate showing of a 2nd-rate Shakespeare
Don't see it if MUST-SEE for Bard-o-philes and those willing to sit thru a young romance in order to witness one of the most violent battles ever staged!!
See it if You don't mind enduring a somewhat overblown staging of one of Shakespeare's justifiably less-loved plays, or if you love John Glover.
Don't see it if You prefer Shakespeare to be more traditionally staged, or have trouble following a somewhat muddled plot delivered in Elizabethan language.
See it if you don't mind sitting through a slow first act, enjoy great acting, want to see an awesome combat scene in the second act
Don't see it if you get bored easily, don't like Shakespeare, are not interested in seeing a Shakespeare play with modern dress
See it if you like a modernized staging of a lesser known classic
Don't see it if A cast of 30 is too overwhelming
See it if you like Shakespeare or any theatre out of doors.
Don't see it if it's very hot and humid.
See it if you want a modern take on a Shakespeare play.
Don't see it if you don;t like the use of machine guns, the concept of war and fight scenes.
See it if you're a diehard Shakespeare fan who really wants to see a production of this seldom-produced play.
Don't see it if you're bored easily or feel it's a bit too soon for a massive gun fight with semi-automatic weapons.
Critic Reviews (34)
"Often considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, and certainly one of his most disconcerting, few works better illustrate the hypocrisy of war...The play certainly defies easy classification, with elements of comedy, romance, and tragedy told against a historical backdrop, one mood giving way to another at a moment’s notice. Sullivan solves this problem by having the entire cast play their roles brimming with passion."
Read more
"If anyone could surmount the problem of 'Troilus and Cressida’ being one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem’ plays, it would be director Daniel Sullivan, the American stage master of the Bard...Sullivan focuses pretty much on the war plot line…The battle and subsequent massacre of Hector is over-ambitiously choreographed. Shakespeare’s always good, but it’s still evident, even with Sullivan’s skills, why 'Troilus and Cressida’ is one of the Bard’s least frequently staged."
Read more
"Sullivan strips away any chance of such glamorizing by dressing the play in contemporary costumes that evoke a desert war...The soldiers in this male-heavy play are largely cynical and coarse, and Sullivan's actors, find contemporary stylistic touchstones for their cynicism...I find this play virtually impossible to love. Thanks to the blunt lucidity with which Sullivan has laid out its action, and his stern emphasis on textual clarity, I'm at least beginning, reluctantly, to respect it."
Read more
"There’s nothing quite like seeing the works of Shakespeare. Add to that the Delacorte Theatre’s setting in Central Park, and you have a match made in heaven. And that’s exactly what The Public’s production of 'Troilus and Cressida' was...The acting was far from the rigid, traditional acting often associated with Shakespearean productions; each actor embodied their character...A perfect example of the Public’s mission to bring dynamic and inventive theater to the broadest range of audiences."
Read more
“The challenge is the sheer boredom that comes with a siege...Unfortunately this sense of boredom threatens to envelop the production...If there is a complaint to be had, it’s that the piece isn’t brutal enough...The act of war is a vulgar, unnatural act. To watch it represented in the pleasant surroundings of the Delacorte Theater, vaguely sanitized, it almost seems a disservice. It’s a rare occasion when you wished for more depravity in our theater, but this is the world that we live in."
Read more
"Neither a true comedy nor a tragedy in the classical sense, the play is a caustic study of war and love that doesn’t really have much to say about either. And this production is certainly problematic, though many of its issues lie more in the Bard’s script than in director Daniel Sullivan’s take on the piece...Unusual for Shakespeare, few of the characters grow or change over the course of the three-hour play. There are some lovely moments, but little in the way of emotional power or depth."
Read more
"Daniel Sullivan has provided the Public Theater and its audiences with what may be the best Shakespeare in the Park production I have ever seen...Sullivan proves his brilliance once again in this vital presentation that captures the essence of a play: one of Shakespeare's hardest to render properly...Many of the performances are memorable, and the whole is at first funny, then unnerving and finally affecting."
Read more
"The war raging around young lovers Troilus and Cressida is pointless. But that’s precisely the point of Shakespeare’s tragedy with a wickedly comic undertow…If the Grecian-Trojan war that pervades 'Troilus and Cressida' brings to mind current conflicts, that’s no accident. Director Daniel Sullivan brings Shakespeare’s seldom-produced anti-war, anti-hero, anti-romance farce into sharp 21st century focus, complete with selfies, social media and assault rifles."
Read more