Sir Peter Hall makes his Off-Broadway directing debut April 15 with Troilus and Cressida, William Shakespeare's tale of faithless lovers in a faithless time, opening at the American Place Theatre. Joey Kern (Saved) and Tricia Paoluccio (The Green Bird and A View From the Bridge) star as the title characters in this Theatre for a New Audience production.

One of Shakespeare's less-performed plays, Troilus and Cressida observes the Trojan War through the faithless love of Troilus and Cressida. With cynical commentary from the deformed Greek Thersites and the bawdy Pandarus, Troilus is neither comedy nor tragedy as it ends with the disintegration of both the moral and political situations of both countries, without a glimmer of hope for either side.

Hall helmed the original production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus as well as the recent Broadway revival. Famous for founding England's Royal Shakespeare Company and his subsequent work with the Royal National Theatre, Hall has tackled most of Shakespeare's canon, including the 1968 film version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." His most recent large-scale project was the Denver Theatre Center's 10-hour production of Tantalus.

Joining Kern and Paoluccio are Tony Church, playing Pandarus for the second time in his career, Amadeus' Cindy Katz, Nicholas Kepros and Terence Rigby, Vivienne Benesch, David Conrad, Idris Elba, Drama Desk nominee Philip Goodwin (Henry VI), Tom Hammond, Earl Hindman, Luke Kirby, Lorenzo Pisoni, Frank Raiter, Michael Rogers, Tari Signor and Andrew Weems.

The design team features Douglas Stein (sets), Scott Zielinski (lighting) and Kiss Me, Kate's Tony-winner Martin Pakledinaz (costumes). Hershel Garfein composes the original score. Tickets are $45. The American Place Theatre is located at 111 West 46th Street. For reservations, call (212) 239-6200. Theatre for a New Audience is on the web at http://www.tfana.org.

— By Christine Ehren