Troilus and Cressida
By (Author) Stephen Purcell
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press
18th February 2026
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Theatre studies
Hardback
360
Width 138mm, Height 216mm
A history of Shakespeare's play in performance, from John Dryden's Restoration adaptation to the rediscovery of the play in the twentieth century. What made this play so relevant to audiences who had lived through the horrors of two world wars and the rise of fascism Why did it speak so directly to the 'angry young men' of the post-war generation and to the countercultural movements of the 1960s This book investigates the many ways in which modern directors and actors have found their own world reflected in the play, from anti-war protests and the sexual revolution to feminism and postcolonialism. In doing so, it explores the play's own complexity and its refusal to give easy answers.
Stephen Purcell is Associate Professor (Reader) in Shakespeare and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick