Oct 13, 2026 · 23 min · 7 segments
Jodi and I review a selection of shows that we've seen in September and October 2026, including: - *Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy* at the Theatre Royal Stratford East - *The Children* at the Lyric…
The show that comes most to the front of my mind is Bloodsport at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.
The play is written by Ava Pickett, who everyone is talking about as a young rising star, quite rightly, following her breakout play 1536, which had acclaimed runs at the Almeida and then in the West End earlier this year.
Bloodsport was actually written a few years ago, before 1536, but is having a proper production here at Stratford East, directed by the new artistic director there, Lisa Sperling, and with a very good cast, including Michelle Dockery, Laura Aikman.
The play is actually fully titled Bloodsport After Helen of Troy, and as that suggests, it is an imagining of what might befall Helen of Troy after she returns from the battle, but set in modern-day Britain, and specifically in Essex.
The location is important, I think, because the play sets off all sorts of reverberations with contemporary social issues and political parallels.
Second of all, I love a Greek myth retold, especially one that centers on the stories of the women having been so disappointed that the Odyssey this summer did not tell enough of the female story.
It felt like a number of the duologues of some of the minor characters I might have taken out.
I'm not sure they necessarily added or built, but I could see this play definitely having another light.
So for all it only runs to the 10th of October, I'm convinced it's going to get another run and it's sold out.
I love in the opening scene, Helen has just been reclaimed by her husband, Marcus, I guess Menelaus.
And she's in her silk cami and French knickers and spattered in blood and visibly traumatized.
And they're brought into this kind of perfect Instagram home of C, who's close to Nestor and Mario.
The show that comes most to the front of my mind is Bloodsport at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.
The play is written by Ava Pickett, who everyone is talking about as a young rising star, quite rightly, following her breakout play 1536, which had acclaimed runs at the Almeida and then in the West End earlier this year.
Bloodsport was actually written a few years ago, before 1536, but is having a proper production here at Stratford East, directed by the new artistic director there, Lisa Sperling, and with a very good cast, including Michelle Dockery, Laura Aikman.
The play is actually fully titled Bloodsport After Helen of Troy, and as that suggests, it is an imagining of what might befall Helen of Troy after she returns from the battle, but set in modern-day Britain, and specifically in Essex.
The location is important, I think, because the play sets off all sorts of reverberations with contemporary social issues and political parallels.
Second of all, I love a Greek myth retold, especially one that centers on the stories of the women having been so disappointed that the Odyssey this summer did not tell enough of the female story.
It felt like a number of the duologues of some of the minor characters I might have taken out.
I'm not sure they necessarily added or built, but I could see this play definitely having another light.
So for all it only runs to the 10th of October, I'm convinced it's going to get another run and it's sold out.
I love in the opening scene, Helen has just been reclaimed by her husband, Marcus, I guess Menelaus.
And she's in her silk cami and French knickers and spattered in blood and visibly traumatized.
And they're brought into this kind of perfect Instagram home of C, who's close to Nestor and Mario.
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