Troilus and Cressida Tickets

One of the Bard's least-performed plays throughout history, Troilus and Cressida reveals what happens when two very different worlds collide. You'll love this complex, genre-defying satire staged at Shakespeare's magnificent Globe Theatre as part of their 2025 season.

Troilus and Cressida the story

Greece and Troy are busy fighting an epic war, driven by the desire for honour and an unthinking admiration of bravery. While the action-packed battle rages, the Trojan prince Troilus falls truly, madly and deeply in love with Cressida - and the pair swear their eternal love.

Shift time forwards eight years and the fighting is still going on. There's no end in sight for this pointless, exhausting conflict and the glamour of war is fast losing its glitter. The people of Troy are fed up, the Greeks are just as tired of the whole thing, the hero worship has gone sour and the war stories have lost their lustre. Love has been betrayed, heroism has disappeared and honour has been proved pointless. What happens next?

About Troilus and Cressida

Probably written in around 1602, this five act drama was first printed in 1609. The Bard was inspired by George Chapman’s translation of the Iliad as well as stories about the Trojan War written by John Lydgate and William Caxton in the 1400s. It was also influenced by Geoffrey Chaucer’s love poem of the same name. Labelled one of Shakespeare's problem plays, it has always sparked lively critical debate.

In the past there's been a 1954 BBC modern-language, modern-dress version by Ian Dallas, a RADA staging in 1956 with Albert Finney in the leading role, and a summer 2009 Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey production. A 1966 TV movie and a 1981 TV movie Directed by Jonathan Miller also caused a stir. This latest new production explores the cult of celebrity and ego, a cynical, satirical study of reality versus appearances that Shakespeare would have loved.

Troilus and Cressida cast and creatives

Written by William Shakespeare and Directed by Owen Horsley in his Globe debut. The design comes from Dawson-Laight.

This bold and snappy take on love and war blends Shakespeare's sharpest satire with gripping drama. Heading to the Globe Theatre in September 2025, Troilus and Cressida is one of the most underrated yet thought-provoking plays you'll see this year.