Troilus and Cressida

We went to see Troilus and Cressida at the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London tonight, so seeing a Shakespeare play in nearly the same exact setting as theatre-goers way back when would have seen it performed.

It was the first time I'd ever gone to a Shakespeare play without knowing the story first, and I have to say it really showed me how captivating Shakespeare's plays are, as the whole thing had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. I gasped, I laughed, I cried, the whole thing was extraordinarily affecting.

It's one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays however, and after seeing the performance I could see why. The thing went from hysterically funny to impossibly sad in a heartbeat, and when it ended I was just left thinking, "huh?" It was almost as though Shakespeare had just stopped writing mid-page and called it a day.

Also, I was a bit dissappointed in how Shakespeare portrayed Cressida, as she acts like a total ninny when confessing her love to Troilus, and after swearing her love to Troilus and screaming with agony at having to leave him, he makes her so inconstant and has her betray him.

I guess it's just sort of how women were perceived at the time, as being the weaker, inconstant sex with little sense of loyalty and honor. But it somehow made for a dissappointing end to the story, for even if Cressida had died to stay true to Troilus, it would have somehow made for a better story. (Alas, if I had been Cressida in reality, and my lover had given me away to the enemy in a prisoner exchange, I would have gone about making friends with my captors too!)

Overall though, a fantastic experience, which reminded me of how much fun Shakespeare really is.