Ava Pickett's Helen of Troy lands in dystopian Essex — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Ava Pickett's "Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy" relocates the Greek myth to a Towie-style Essex living room, where Helen returns after an English civil war sparked by her departure from husband Marcus for a "foreigner"
- Michelle Dockery stars as Helen, moving "from victim to rebel to a mother confronted with the daughter she abandoned" across the play's two-hour runtime
- Maimuna Memon's Dani prompted cheers on opening night for an "uncompromising takedown of Cee's complicity," with Laura Aikman's tradwife Cee serving mozzarella sticks and prawn picky bits to gloss over the violence
- The review links the dystopian setting to real-life scenes of masked vigilantes in Dover and Portsmouth "this month," calling Pickett's vision "uncomfortably close" despite its Martin McDonagh-esque black wit
- Lisa Spirling, Stratford East's new artistic director, directs the production with Ethan Moorhouse as the Adidas-clad Messenger delivering "blisteringly poetic" interludes, Nicola T Chang's "bone-shaking" sound score, and Polly Sullivan's set featuring "a naked tree" reaching "like a malevolent hand"
- The production runs at Theatre Royal Stratford East until 10 October, with the reviewer noting the play's abrupt climax leaves questions about free will unresolved
Why it matters: Pickett's sophomore play lands at Stratford East as Lisa Spirling's first production as new artistic director, with the reviewer explicitly linking its dystopian Essex to real masked vigilantes in Dover and Portsmouth this month. An audience that visibly cheered Memon's takedown of complicity suggests the production's gender-focused reading of the Helen myth — women responding to violence rather than dwelling on masculinity — is connecting beyond standard classical adaptation.
Ask SkimNews
