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The Stratford production of Troilus and Cressida had quite a bit more stage business between Achilles (Philip) and his boyfriend Patroclus, as they argued over Achilles refusal to return to the war, and in one scene, Achilles slapped him roundly! Much of their interaction (including the slap) was taken out in the London production.
The costumes were certainly toned down after Stratford as well. In Stratford, the Greeks were all bare chested with wide gold armbands around their upper arms. With hair extensions to give them curls down their back, they looked like wonderful Greek statues come to life. Even Joseph Fiennes playing Troilus (a Trojan) had a long black ponytail. By the time the production got to London, some of the actors, like Richard Dillane as Diomedes, were inexplicably wearing long sleeved black t-shirts with gold armbands over them. An odd look to say the least.
In Stratford, Philip's Achilles wore leather pants with a black tank top and armored breastplate, which in London became a long dressing-gown type costume until the battle scenes in the last act when he finally dressed for war.
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During one act, Hector (a Trojan) and Ajax (a Greek) are fighting, and both pick up clubs and bash away with them. At one performance, one of the clubs broke in half, and the pointy, dangerous looking ends were on laying on the stage. All the actors were continuing to move around following the fight, and as Ajax and Hector were continuing to battle it out, Philip (as Achilles) very casually scooped them up and even incorporated them into the scene by clapping them together to applaud when Ajax scored a point. It just seemed like most natural thing in the world, not a potentially dangerous accident. As I'd seen the play several times before with nothing like that happening, it was great to see how a real pro handled that kind of situation.
As Achilles, Philip Quast walks that difficult path between lover and soldier: he poses less than the manly men, but we never doubt his soldierly qualities. I wasn't totally convinced of his love for Patroclus, for oddly enough Philip Quast's Achilles and Jeremy Sheffield as Patroclus play it relatively straight.
The production offers a vast panoply of characters, very few of whom we emotionally engage with, but we are stirred by the images, the tone and by the manner in which the play reaches us.
