The Trojan War, seven years in: heroes bicker about honour while Thersites provides scabrous commentary, and the love plot curdles under wartime pressure.
It reads like Shakespeare taking a blowtorch to epic: Achilles is a sulking celebrity, Helen barely worth the argument. Modern audiences tend to find it startlingly contemporary. Come to it after the famous plays, when its disenchantment lands hardest.
Troilus and Cressida on screen
1Troilus and Cressida (1981)
TV film
BBC Television Shakespeare
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Mark it in your record when you finish — one seat, kept for decades.