Troilus & Cressida

A spot of sex, maybe some war, then perhaps a touch more war and sex, and that’s about it for human aspiration. That may be the kind of lesson you’d expect to learn from contemporary, disillusioned playwrights like Mark Ravenhill or the late Sarah Kane, but this is Shakespeare, the granddaddy of Midsummer frolics and slain heroes.

400 years on, his heart-rending tale of Troilus and Cressida , set during the Trojan War, is still impressively relevant – once you get passed the Bard’s typically befuddling multitude of messages, that is. And in the hands of Declan Donnellan’s award-winning company, Cheek by Jowl, the text has been stripped of such distractions, yielding a streamlined production with a wonderful and suitably modern hue.

So whether you need to brush up on your Iliad or simply want to see what’s cooking in contemporary Classical Theatre, make sure to catch this spectacular, full-length piece of Shakespeare in its only UK run, before it moves on to stun and delight audiences across the globe.

Troilus and Cressida ends June 14
Barbican, London, EC2Y
0845 120 7550 £25

by DH