Review: Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy, Stratford East

Greek mythology is having a moment. With Simon Stone reimagining The Oresteia at The Bridge Theatre and Christopher Nolan turning his attention to The Odyssey, it seems the classics are everywhere. Tonight it’s the turn of Ava Pickett, one of the UK’s most talked-about playwrights and the Olivier-nominated writer of 1536. Her latest work, Blood Sport: After Helen of Troy, arrives at Theatre Royal Stratford East with the promise of a bold contemporary spin on one of mythology’s most enduring stories.

Pickett relocates Helen’s tale to Essex, specifically the cream-on-cream living room of Cee (Laura Aikman). The sofa is cream, the carpet is cream, even Cee’s dress is cream, punctuated only by a few metallic ornaments that look freshly purchased from Dunelm. Polly Sullivan’s set and costume design is deliberately aesthetic, and it certainly screams Essex. Celebrations are underway at the local Wetherspoons: Helen (Michelle Dockery), mother and wife, has finally returned home, captured, caught and dragged back after running away with Paris, a man from outside her world. Mario (Gerard Monaco) replaces Menelaus as the violent, misogynistic aggressor who pulls the entire country into chaos and riots to bring her back to where he believes she should be.

In Pickett’s retelling, Helen refuses to be moulded, standing up for women everywhere and pushing back against the men who believe they can shape her like clay. It’s a compelling idea, but the execution often feels more like an episode of EastEnders and not one of the better ones. The puns and one-liners land, but they thin out the drama, leaving the emotional core underdeveloped.

The standout performance comes from Ethan Moorhouse, whose turn as the Messenger is easily the most compelling element of the production. Though not a central character, he commands the stage with a presence that lingers long after his scenes end. His material is the strongest in the script, staying closest to the traditions of Greek theatre and the genre Pickett is drawing from. Moorhouse becomes storyteller, narrator and modern chorus all at once, blending classical technique with a wry contemporary edge that feels both fresh and rooted. His delivery is utterly absorbing; you could listen to him for the entire evening. It’s a shame that the dialogue elsewhere never reaches the same depth; the symbolism he evokes is rarely matched by the surrounding scenes, leaving the rest of the play feeling comparatively thin.

The Essex setting raises questions. Myths are adaptable, symbolic, endlessly interpretable, but here the modernisation feels forced. Rather than illuminating the themes, it trivialises them, making the story feel smaller, less resonant and oddly mundane. Scenes that should evoke empathy instead feel shallow and emotionally flat. The violence, too, seems silly rather than shocking, with gun-pointing and swearing that seem more like shortcuts than meaningful choices.

Sound design by Nicola T. Chang suffers from similar issues. Loud bangs bookend scenes, seemingly intended to jolt the audience, but they rarely match the action or tone. It feels like a device rather than a design.

There is no doubt that Pickett is committed to exploring the treatment of women, the state of the world and the complexities of how we relate to one another, themes that consistently shape her work. However, in Blood Sport, the writing itself often undermines those intentions. The reliance on throwaway jokes and broad comedy dilutes the seriousness of the ideas at play, blurring the central message long before it has the chance to land. The piece aims to examine Helen’s return and how she is received by those around her, but the script never quite musters the dramatic weight or clarity that such a story demands, resulting in a retelling that feels far lighter and far less incisive than it should.

Written by: Ava Pickett
Directed by: Lisa Spirling 
Set and Costume: Polly Sullivan
Lighting Designer: Zeynep Kepekli
Sound Designer and Composer: Nicola T. Chang
Movement Director: Kloe Dean
Casting Director: Juliet Horsley 
Dramaturg: Ed Madden 
Fight and Intimacy Director: Enric Ortuno
Voice and Dialect Coach: Claudette Williams 
Costume Supervisor: Sophie Fuller
Assistant Director: Ariana Xeno

Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy plays at Theatre Royal Stratford East until Saturday 10 October