Word: cressida
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When "Troilus and Cressida" was played for the first time at the Brattle Theater a little over a year ago, it caused a considerable sensation. Amateur actors did a fine job with a very difficult play. The present production, which opened Thursday night, has been changed in a number of ways--there are new actors in many of the minor parts, and new interpretations in some of the major ones--but the quality has not changed...
...Troilus and Cressida" is not simple dramatic material. Although it contains some of Shakespeare's finest lines, the play is talky and often lacking in action; a good deal of judicious cutting was necessary. (The new production has been cut even further.) A second difficulty is that the story of Troilus and Cressida, grafted onto the traditional Homeric legend, makes the plot disjointed and confused. The ending is inconclusive, and there seem to be no outstanding characters. It is a tribute to Peter Temple's direction and to the talents of the east that the Brattle Theater succeeded in making...
...Farrand, as Cressida, has changed her interpretation considerably. Instead of playing a sexy two-timer as she did last year, she makes Cressida out to be a well-meaning and affectionate girl who is the victim of circumstances. The change in role has not diminished her charms as an actress. Cressida's uncle, Pandarus, is played by Thayer David, who makes the part, that of a coarse and effeminate old man extremely amusing...
...shortcomings of the Brattle Theater's "Troilus and Cressida" are shortcomings only by comparison with the general high level of the production. Exams permitting, it makes a rewarding evening...
Last year's two $50 first prizes went to Nicholas Verden '51 and J. David Baumann '51. The former recited the Allocution by Pope Pius XII on the arrest of Cardinal Josef Mindszenty, and the latter chose Ulysses' speech on order from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida...