Being composed around 1602, the play was most probably staged between 1602 and 1603, as the Stationers' Register entry for 1602/3 records a public performance by the Chamberlain's Men. Taking into account the fact that the second public printing of the quarto edition (1609) dropped the first's familiar testimonial "as acted by the King's Majesty's Servant's at the Globe", it has been suggested that work was performed only once. Instead, the volume was recommended for the libraries of the "eternal reader".[19]
Public performances through history seem sparse. In 1679 John Dryden "new modell'd the plot", re-ordered the scenes, and presented the work as The Truth Found Too Late at the Duke's Theatre, London.[23] In 1795 John Philip Kemble prepared an acting version which emphasised the warriors and sidelined Cressida, but he abandoned the production before opening night. Henry Irving, actor-manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London, commissioned a new version in 1889 but he did not stage it.[24]
Since then, it has become increasingly popular. Peter Holland of Cambridge University attributes this to the work's relevance at times of impending war: William Poel's 1912 production served as a warning as the Great Powers of Europe armed themselves for conflict and Michael Macowan's modern dress production of 1938 at the Westminster Theatre coincided with the Munich crisis.[25] In the international production at the Swan Theatre, Stratford of August 2012 the depiction of Thersites as a wounded war veteran, and the manner in which the Myrmidons killed Hector, "resonat[ed] with […] the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.".[26]
In comparison to the performance history of other, more frequently performed plays, the delayed acceptance of Troilus and Cressida into the theatre also means that the claims of relevance become especially acute. When the play had been chosen for performance during the twentieth century, while being out of fashion before, it showed that there was something about its themes and subject matter which was familiar in the mindset of the contemporary audience. Colin Chambers characterised the mood of that period thus: There were signs that British theatre was beginning to reconnect to its society, having previously failed, in [Peter] Hall's words, "to take into account the fact that we have had a World War […] and that everything in the world has changed – values, ways of living, ideals, hopes and fears". Theatre was staking its claim as a cultural force of significance.[27]
As Barbara Bowen points out: 'We see the play as modern partly because we have so little history of premodern readers seeing the play'.[28]
The play can be seen as a metaphorical mirror, reflecting contemporary issues and political concerns. For example: John Barton, during his preparation for the 1968 Royal Shakespeare Company production, saw the parallels between the prolonged war in Viet Nam and the stalemated siege of Troy as offering a way into the script, commenting that: "The basic situation […] is ludicrous, but also an insoluble impasse where both sides are inexorably committed.". This was not referenced on stage, however, where the "wars and lechery" of the play (Act 5 scene 2) were shown in the context of the new sexual freedoms of the late nineteen-sixties.[29]
Modern revivals
The BBC broadcast a modern-language and modern-dress version by Ian Dallas as The Face of Love in 1954, which was then staged by RADA at the Vanbrugh Theatre in 1956, providing Albert Finney with his first lead stage role.[30]
In July 2009, the Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey presented a production as part of their annual Shakespeare in the Parks series. Director Jon Ciccarelli set the action in ancient Greece but sought to put a modern twist on the action by comparing the title pair to Romeo and Juliet and posing the question: would their relationship have lasted if they had lived? Ciccarelli hypothesized that Shakespeare knew the answer and that it was that it would have not. He stated that Troilus and Cressida pine for each other, like their more famous counterparts, and share a passionate evening, the morning after which Troilus is eager to leave. Cressida is later exiled from Troy and quickly takes up with another man proving love is fickle and fleeting. Other notable departures show that the Greek heroes are anything but heroic, showing Shakespeare satirized revered figures like Achilles as childish and barbaric, and sympathized with the pragmatic Hector.[31]
The Public Theater has produced three revivals, in 1965, 1995, and 2016.[32][33]
