Michelle Dockery and Laura Aikman are now in rehearsals for Ava Pickett’s Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy, which will have its world premiere at Stratford East this September.
Dockery and Aikman star as Helan and Cee, respectively, in a production directed by Lisa Spirling.
GIVE IT BACK. GIVE IT BACK NOW. GIVE IT BACK OR I’LL TAKE IT BACK.
Years after she walked out on her family, Helen has returned home after a war fought in her name. Her husband celebrates, her childhood friend Cee does not. Over the course of this first fragile night of peace time, wounds reopen, loyalties fracture and the true cost of a woman’s choice to leave her life is made clear.
A play about friendship, motherhood, and what happens when the woman whose face started a war, returns home to finish it.
The full cast includes Maimuna Memon as Dani, Gerard Monaco as Mario, Ethan Moorhouse as Messenger, Emma Monnickendam as Hermione, Jay Taylor as Marcus, Ellie Turner as Chloe and Joshua-Alexander Williams as Luke.
The creative team includes sound designer and composer Nicola T Chang, movement director Kloé Dean, costume supervisor Sophie Fuller, casting director Juliet Horsley, lighting designer Zeynep Kepekli, dramaturg Ed Madden, fight & intimacy coordinator Enric Ortuño, set and costume designer Polly Sullivan, voice and dialect by Claudette Williams and assistant director Ariana Xeno.
This production is generously supported by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions, Mark Gordon Pictures and Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
Bloodsport plays Stratford East from September 3 – October 10, 2026. Tickets here.
Top image: Michelle Dockery (Helen), Laura Aikman (Cee) and Ellie Turner (Chloe) in rehearsal for Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy. Credit Pamela Raith (image supplied)