Two opposing worlds clash in the Globe Theatre this summer, in Shakespeare’s rarely performed, genre-defying satire Troilus and Cressida. The legends of Greece and Troy are gripped by an epic war, fighting for honour and bravery. As a thrilling, action-packed battle rages around them, Trojan prince Troilus falls deeply in love with Cressida, and they swear their eternal love… But wait! That’s NOT the play we’re about to see. Fast forward eight years, and everything has ground to a halt in a seemingly pointless, exhausting conflict with no resolution in sight. The manufactured glamour of war is losing its sheen in Troy, and the Greek camp is an apocalyptic wasteland. What happens when the heroes we worship, and the stories that drive us, can no longer live up to their mythic narratives? In his Globe debut, director Owen Horsley (Twelfth Night, Regent’s Park Open Air) explores the cult of celebrity and the egos that propel wars forward in Shakespeare’s cynical, satirical study of appearance versus reality.
