Director's Note

The backdrop of Troilus and Cressida’s tragic love story is the Trojan War, where Menelaus and Paris’s siege over Helen has raged for seven years, costing countless Trojan and Greek lives. The world these characters inhabit is defined by a code of honor, and an accepted use of violent measures to keep what one holds dear. Early in the play we hear misgivings on both sides about the wisdom of staying the course, yet against their better judgement, both sides push on. 

One could compare the character Troilus to the better-known Hamlet (the play that precedes Troilus & Cressida by one year). Seen in that context, it seems Shakespeare was examining characters who do not conform to society’s expectations. Hamlet considers revenge, while the men around him (Fortinbras, Laertes) take up arms without hesitation. Similarly, Troilus, who tells Cressida that he is “as true as truth’s simplicity,” follows orders so “truly” that he not only gives up the woman he loves, he hand-delivers her to his rival, while the world around him wages war over the theft of a woman. 

Likewise, Shakespeare shows us that there is a code of honor in battle, thus when Achilles breaks this code, it feels as if the whole world will crumble to dust. This seems to me to be the bleakest of all of Shakespeare’s plays. If love and honor cannot be held sacred, what is left to believe in? In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare leaves us with nothing but destruction, though he acknowledges that new kingdoms will rise from the ashes, and the world will somehow go on.

Some would argue the world today is in chaos as our national discourse and current politics take us into uncharted waters. We have recently faced our own unforeseen challenges as a department. Where do we go from here? How do we respond? Although the play leaves us gasping at the devastation before us, in writing this play, Shakespeare gave us the means to make art out of the hardships we face. We have taken up this play that describes a world falling apart, and we have created this production through artistic collaboration, presented to you here in communion together. Here lies the hope for our future.

Jan Mason, Director