A trailer is out for Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy, days before Ava Pickett’s new play has its world premiere at Theatre Royal Stratford East with Michelle Dockery as Helen.
A trailer has been released for Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy, six days before the play opens. The film was made by 1983 Creative, and can be watched on YouTube.
The play is a world premiere by Ava Pickett, directed by Lisa Spirling, Stratford East’s artistic director. It runs at Theatre Royal Stratford East from Thursday 3 September to Saturday 10 October 2026.
Michelle Dockery plays Helen and Laura Aikman plays Cee. Olivier Award winner Maimuna Memon is Dani, with Gerard Monaco as Mario, Emma Monnickendam as Hermione, Jay Taylor as Marcus, Ellie Turner as Chloe, Joshua-Alexander Williams as Luke and Ethan Moorhouse as the Messenger.
The story picks up after the war. Helen comes home years after walking out on her family, to a husband who celebrates her return and a childhood friend who does not. It plays out across one night, the first of peacetime, as old wounds reopen and loyalties give way. Pickett’s subject is friendship, motherhood, and what it costs a woman to leave.
The creative team has Polly Sullivan on set and costume design, Zeynep Kepekli on lighting, and Nicola T. Chang as composer and sound designer. Kloé Dean is movement director, Ed Madden dramaturg and Enric Ortuño fight and intimacy coordinator, with voice and dialect by Claudette Williams, costume supervision by Sophie Fuller, casting by Juliet Horsley CDG and Ariana Xeno as assistant director.
We ran the first look at the company in rehearsal earlier this month. The production is supported by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions, Mark Gordon Pictures and Cockayne Grants for the Arts.
Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy runs at Theatre Royal Stratford East from Thursday 3 September to Saturday 10 October 2026. Tickets are on sale now.
