My Secret to Shakespeare

After 6 Shakespeare plays, I finally designed a cheat sheet of the characters for the play! Once you figure out who's who on stage, then you can follow the story as it unfolds. Don't be mistaken, I still have to read the cliff notes ahead of time to truly understand what's gonna happen too!

Troilus & Cressida synopsis:

Love and war--A war caused by one love affair destroys another. Seven years have passed since the Greeks first began their siege of Troy to recapture Helen, and on the Trojan side of the walls the beautiful Cressida, aided and abetted by her hilariously intriguing uncle Pandarus, has embarked upon a passionate love affair with Prince Troilus. When Cressida is forced to join her treacherous father in the Greek camp, can their love survive a difficult separation or will it join the other casualties of war? Shakespeare fills his ancient tale with savage comedy, great passion, vivid characters and all the heat and sweat of a long and painful campaign. He seems never more modern than in dealing with the subject of a tragic love pursued in the midst of a pointless war.

There was sword fighting and battles on stage--maybe it appealed to the men in the audience--I kinda like the Bourne/Bond-type fight scenes better myself.

The older man in the background was clearly my favorite character--Pandarus was a meddler of the heart and brought these two together.

Not today's kind of chick flick...it didn't end happily...Shakespeare sometimes wraps it up in a nice bow and other plays "not so much"...