Cressida Among the Greeks
Set during the last days of the Trojan War, CRESSIDA AMONG THE GREEKS retells Shakespeare and Chaucer’s tragic love story, Troilus and Cressida. Troilus falls in love with Cressida, a young widow, and begs her uncle Pandarus to plead his cause. She resists at first, then falls in love, only to be exiled from Troy to join her traitorous father in the Greek camp. As counterpoint to their doomed romance, the Trojan royal family plays out a drama that is part domestic comedy and part political tragedy. Autocratic Hecuba, doddering Priam, and their unruly daughter Cassandra—screaming prophecies at deaf ears—watch helplessly as their city goes down in flames.
Published by Oberon Books. Also available at The Drama Book Shop and Amazon. Read an excerpt.
Donald Lyons, The New York Post
Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
The romantic image above is a publicity shot of Danielle Skraastad and Bryant Richards, the leads in the Ohio Theater production of CRESSIDA. The production remains one of my favorite experiences putting up one of my own plays. A few days after New Year’s 2002, Sam Buggeln, who had directed the Fringe production of THE MURDERS AT ARGOS, called to say that we could get the Ohio for quite reasonable rent if we wanted it, but we had to jump. Which meant we’d have to decide on something to produce. And then open it in a little over a month. With Jordan Schildcrout as our third member, we quickly founded Wash & Fold Theatre Project, chose CRESSIDA as our first project, slapped together a budget and then a cast. We had no money for a set and so Sam commandeered two pieces of scaffolding that were used to hang lights at the Ohio. For costumes we used….. well, look at the pictures. The rest was supplied with Mark Huang’s Drama Desk-nominated sound design and Farley Whitfield’s equally gorgeous lighting. Somehow it all worked. One of those rare moments in the theatre when you really are able to produce something wonderful by the seat of your pants.