A lovely, unusual, rather special evening. In Cressida , fetchingly directed by Nicholas Hytner with the best set of actors now in town, Wright flings opens the door to the intriguing backstage world of London theatre in the 1630s. He invites us to peer inside. I's personal rule. You might as well be in 1612.
People talk with plenty of period touches, but they still speak with the voices of today.
The appeal of Cressida lies in its romantic, convincing evocation of theatre politics and the boys' acting and cross-dressing life. Cressida is a terrific play, funny, touching, satisfyingly plotted and a loving celebration of theatre. Gambon plays John Shank, a long-standing member of the King's Men with a lucrative sideline in buying, training and hiring out boy actors. Hytner's production, greatly helped by Bob Crowley's ingenious and evocative designs, gloriously captures the gamy atmosphere of the 17th-century theatre, a world of greed, graft, and casual homosexuality, but one in which friendship and dedication also flourished. There are marvellous passages in which cynicism suddenly gives way to the thrill of the theatre, and beyond the excellent jokes lies real depth of feeling.