Heroes crash down to earth in Shakespeare’s bold, biting satire of the Trojan War that’s ‘tremendous fun’ ★★★★ (Time Out). Filmed live in the Globe Theatre. Director Owen Horsley’s ‘bawdy and ballsy’ ★★★★ (The Times) 2025 production is a ‘topical tapestry of war, tattered myths and inadequate leaders’ ★★★★ (Financial Times).

Ancient Greece and Troy have been fighting for years with no end in sight. The manufactured glamour of the Trojan war machine is losing its shine, and the Greek camp has declined into an apocalyptic wasteland.

What happens when the heroes we worship no longer live up to their mythic narratives?

Content guidance: This play contains violence and the use of weapons, scenes of a sexual nature and homophobic references.

The Greek army has been encamped outside the walls of Troy for seven years, ever since Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta.

In Troy, young prince Troilus and Cressida are in love. They each tell Pandarus, Cressida’s aunt, and she promises to act as a go-between.

In the Greek camp, war has ground to a halt: legendary warrior Achilles refuses to fight. When the Trojan prince Hector sends a challenge of single combat, clearly intended for his rival Achilles, wily Ulysses sees an opportunity to bait Achilles into fighting. Ulysses fixes it so that strong warrior Ajax is to take on Hector instead.

Pandarus sets up a meeting between Troilus and Cressida, where they swear their undying love. Meanwhile, a deal is being arranged by Cressida’s father – who defected to the Greek camp – for Cressida to be traded to the Greeks. The next morning the lovers are separated, after promising fidelity, and Cressida is taken away by Greek soldier Diomedes.

Ajax and Hector fight, but Hector calls off the combat to honour the fact that the two are distantly related. Ulysses’ devious plan succeeds and Achilles vows to return to the battlefield– but not before a wild party for Greeks and Trojans together in the camp.

Troilus, jealous and doubting Cressida’s loyalty, attends the party. He spies on Cressida and Diomedes and, seeing the two act intimately, swears revenge on Diomedes.

The morning of battle arrives filled with fresh vendettas and promised showdowns between these ‘heroes’. As the battle reaches its bloody and cruel conclusion, Pandarus returns sick, alone and forgotten to deliver the play’s final words.