Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy

Title: Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy
Author: Ava Pickett
Price: $24.99

'GIVE IT BACK. GIVE IT BACK NOW.
GIVE IT BACK OR I'LL TAKE IT BACK.'

Years after she walked out on her family, and following a war fought in her name, Helen has returned home. Her husband celebrates, her childhood friend Cee does not.

Over the course of this fragile first night of peacetime, wounds reopen, loyalties fracture and the true cost of a woman's choice to leave is made clear.

Blistering and brilliant, Ava Pickett's Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy was first performed at Stratford East, London, in 2026, directed by Artistic Director Lisa Spirling.

'Ava Pickett is one of theatre's brightest young talents' The Stage

'The playwright of the moment' Telegraph

'A superb new play... a rip-roaring dark comedy set in the aftermath of a British Trojan War... At its heart it's about the pervasive effect of toxic masculinity on British society... nobody does foul-mouthed feminist subversion with an Essex drawl anything like Pickett... she's on the fast track to national treasure status' — Time Out

'Ava Pickett is not just any playwright. She is the hottest name in theatre... she writes phenomenally meaty roles for women... we are watching the early work of a major talent' — iPaper

'Classical myth burns into modern England... Pickett's dystopian vision is infused with a Martin McDonagh-esque black wit... blisteringly poetic interludes... both comedy and drama are deftly paced and balanced' — Guardian

'Ava Pickett is flavour of the month. Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy indicates she might be flavour of the year and many years to come... the play is full of spit, fire and brilliance. It's like Sarah Kane crossed with The Only Way is Essex – devastatingly funny but utterly furious about the state of the world and the way that women within it are treated... Pickett's words fizz and spark, as she conjures a world controlled by the gods of love and war... the play confirms Pickett's bold, confident instincts as a writer. The tension and cleverness of its conception never falters, and the words rise like a sword taking on the world' — WhatsOnStage

'A riposte to toxic masculinity... couldn't feel more timely... urgent and muscular... Pickett's flair for rich, heightened dialogue, and for puncturing high drama with sudden humour, are thrillingly present' — London Standard

'Sharp, stylish, compelling and effortlessly entertaining... Ava Pickett's Essex-set update of Greek myth is electrifyingly vital... once again demonstrates Pickett's singular gift for crackling dialogue, and for building and sustaining tension... it's a seriously clever piece of dramatic writing... it confirms Pickett as one of our most exciting fast-rising theatrical talents' — The Stage

ISBN: 9781839045837
Publishing status: AU Dropshipping