RSC to stage its first ‘gender-blind’ drama

THE RSC is to turn Shakespeare’s “most testosterone-fuelled play” into its first gender-balanced production.

Troilus and Cressida, set during the siege of Troy, will have a 50-50 split of male and female actors in a play that traditionally features just a handful of women. The titular characters are Trojan lovers, separated when Cressida is given to the Greek camp in a prisoner exchange.

However, the company will not follow Shakespeare’s Globe, which has pledged to maintain a 50-50 gender balance across an entire season. Gregory Doran, the RSC’S artistic director, has said that is too restrictive.

Troilus and Cressida is an experiment, and one which Doran will lead himself as director of the production.

“I want to reflect the nation and its diversity, and clearly gender is going to be a part of that,” he said. “In order to be able to champion and understand it, I wanted to do it for myself – leading from the front, as it were.

“It’s Shakespeare’s most testosterone-fuelled play, and let’s see what happens.”

In a drama that deals with masculin- ity and sexuality, gender-blind casting will not be a simple process. The characters include Helen of Troy and the warriors Aeneas and Achilles.

Doran said: “What I don’t want is just to re-gender some of the smaller roles. I’m using this partly as a test, putting my money where my mouth is, and looking at what gender means. For example, Troilus and Cressida could easily be played by two women. But if you want sexuality and gender to be part of what the play is talking about, Cressida’s gender and sexuality are used as a pawn in the war game.”