Troilus and Cressida

Too long, with too many rambling speeches from undifferentiated characters, TROILUS AND CRESSIDA is not one of Shakespeare's most entertaining plays. And, like JULIUS CAESAR, it's one in which the title characters are not even the protagonists. Indeed, among the legions of Greek and Trojan princes and soldiers, no one really emerges as a memorable figure in this drama, and it needs to be rescued by fine performances in the minor roles. David Troughton as the witty Thersites and Ben Martin as the brutish Ajax both help carry off the more memorable scenes in this play, which, for all its faults, does have some remarkable poetry. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine