Claire Warwick

This is a very odd play, so credit to the director and the actors for making as much of it as they have done. There were some good performances from an ensemble cast. But some of the directorial decisions seemed strange. I really don’t think Thersites and Pandarus work, if played by women, since both are written to be so sexually sleazy in a quintessentially male way. Ulysses was, admittedly, rather convincingly played as a butch lesbian. The director’s notes on the website talk about it being an overwhelmingly male play, so why not emphasise that instead? Also the scene with the myrmidons was just odd. I do fear that the Globe is getting a bit self-consciously provocative for the sake of it, of late. To me that detracts from, rather than enhances the interpretation of the plays.