Troilus And Cressida BBC


(5 stars; 1 reviews)

Drama on 3: Troilus and Cressida Sun 30th Oct 2005, 19:00 on BBC Radio 3 Set during the Trojan War, Shakespeare's powerful drama about a doomed love and the futility of war is also an extraordinarily topical enquiry into ethics, values and the slippery nature of truth. This is the first radio production for more than 20 years. Director:.........Marc Beeby Troilus:............Paterson Joseph Pandarus:.........Derek Griffiths Aeneas:...........Jimmy Akinqbola Cressida:.........Nikki Amuka-Bird Agamemnon:.........Gerard McDermott Menelaus:.......John Cummins Nestor:..........John Rowe Ajax:........Harry Myers Thersites:..........Toby Jones Achilles:........Neil Dudgeon Patroclus:.........Jim Sturgess Ulysses:.........Paul Rhys Diomedes:.........Jonathan Keeble Helen:........Colleen Prendergast Hector:.......Ray Fearon Paris:.........Chu Omambala Cassandra:.......Gbemisola Ikumelo Priam:.........Burt Caesar Andromache:........Ndidi Ama In the second scene of this epic play, Cressida, left alone, which is the only time any of the characters ever utter their true thoughts, sets the mood for the whole drama when she says "Women are angels, wooing: Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing. That she beloved knows nought that knows not this: Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is." This encapsulates the action - so much of the play is battles, bloodshed and brawls - and the game-playing. Cressida toys with Troilus, the man who loves her, while all the men slip around the truth about their intentions and ambitions, either of love or of war. It's Shakespeare's third-longest play, but this production, under Marc Beeby's experienced direction, flies by, even when the warriors and lovers seem weary of the path that they have chosen to follow. RT reviewer: Jane Anderson

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.