YOUTHFUL DEBUT

A young Sam Mendes, directing this his second-ever Shakespeare, created an arresting and blisteringly funny production. Mendes described the play as "an orchestration of dissonances" and explained how he differentiated the opposing forces: "what became clear during rehearsals was the deep loathing of the Greeks for the Trojans. In Classical myth, the Trojans, ancestors of the British, were pale-skinned as opposed to the sunburnt Greeks" Robert Gore-Langton, The Times, 30 April 1990. In the production, the Trojans were attractively clean-shaven while the Greeks appeared more grizzled and less well-groomed.

PADDLING IN THE SWAN

The production worked well in the intimate Swan Theatre, where designer Anthony Ward created a striking set consisting of a rear climbing frame set against the backdrop of an enormous head of Apollo. A circular pool appeared occasionally, used by Cressida and Pandarus to paddle and gossip, and by the Trojans to wash their swords ceremoniously. A net curtain was drawn across the rear wall to represent Achilles' tent. The design was a mixture of the modern and the classical, from anglepoise lamps to ancient-looking helmets.