Shakespeare BASH'd to Present TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
The production will star Geoffrey Armour, Felix Beauchamp, Jennifer Działoszynski, Austin Eckert, Jordin Hall, Andrew Iles, Isaiah Kolundzic, and more.
Returning to The Theatre Centre after three-years of sold-out runs, Toronto theatre darling Shakespeare BASH'd is giving audiences the opportunity to experience a rarely-produced classic, Troilus and Cressida.
Troilus and Cressida is a modern marvel that tests the boundaries of genre, and challenges audiences with its fascinating swerves and ambiguous treatment of love, honour, value, and war. A story that feels all too contemporary, this shocking epic will offer audiences a new perspective on the well-known story of the Trojan War, shining a light on contemporary perspectives on war and valour with brilliant edge and satirical bite.
The production stars real-life couple Deivan Steele (Dora winner, St. Lawrence Shakespeare, MTYP) and Breanne Tice (Dora Nominee, St. Lawrence Shakespeare, Theatre Direct) as the titular lovers, and brings a trio of Stratford Festival stars to Toronto: Austin Eckert (Malcolm in Macbeth, Florizel in The Winter's Tale) in his Toronto debut, Jordin Hall (Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables, Bertram in All's Well that Ends Well, and Cassio in the upcoming Othello), and Andrew Iles (Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Three Tall Women) are Diomedes, Hector, and Achilles.
They are joined by BASH'd Co-Artistic Director Julia Nish-Lapidus (Dora Nominee, St. Lawrence Shakespeare) as the cynic Thersites, Geoffrey Armour (Blyth, Driftwood) as Pandarus, BASH'd stalwarts Jennifer Dzialoszynski (Dora Nominee, Canadian Stage, Lighthouse), David Mackett (Citadel, Fly on the Wall), and Kate Martin (Dora Nominee, YPT) are Ulysses, Nestor/Priam, and Helen/Cassandra/Alexandra.
The cast is rounded out by Felix Beauchamp (Jessie Winner, Dora Nominee) as Patroclus, Isaiah Kolundzic (Guild, Foster Festival) as Agamemnon, Adriano Reis (Dora Nominee, ARC Stage, YES) as Ajax, Rianna Persaud (BASH'd, Bad Dog) as Aeneas, and Ben Yoganathan (Driftwood, Ruff, Howland Company) as Paris/Menelaus.
Director James Wallis has been fascinated by this play for years, using his time at the Stratford Festival to do research and speak with mentors in his multi-year preparation to take on this production. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce Toronto audiences to another Shakespeare play they likely haven't discovered yet. This is one of Shakespeare's most elaborate and perplexing plays. It is not only ambiguous in its impact, a tenet of Shakespeare's art, but it is prismatic - containing and reflecting different tonal and impressionistic colours. Its mixture of political argument and love story, and its structural brilliance coupled with a truly ambivalent impact, makes it a play worth revisiting again and again."
It is fitting that the self-proclaimed theatre nerds at Shakespeare BASH'd, who made a splash with their acclaimed production of Shakespeare's other rarely-produced gem The Two Noble Kinsmen are the ones to bring this forgotten masterpiece to Toronto, offering audiences the chance to encounter a new classic.
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