Paradise found at the National Theatre

Are you feeling brave? Brockley-born writer Kae Tempest is not afraid of controversy, nor of a political platform. The National Theatre has delivered both, and handed a Greek masterpiece to them, writes Christopher Walker.

The writing throws in just about everything but the kitchen sink.

The futility of war, violence against women, racism, digressions on homelessness and mental illness, even vegetarianism, most of which are nowhere to be found in the original.

Paradise is strewn with expletives, it is not light watching and some walk out.

But it certainly will provoke debate. An all-female cast takes on Sophocles’s play Philoctetes, and smashes male heroism into pieces.

The play was originally set in the endless Trojan Wars, and deals with the wounded hero of the title who has been abandoned by his fellow soldiers on the Greek Island of Lemnos.

His bitter rival, Odysseus, comes to the island to trick Philoctetes back to the warfront with the help of the hero Achilles’s young son, Neoptolemus.

The dialogue in the original work between the three warriors has a lot to say about the Greek concepts of heroism, battle valour and personal loyalty.

It has even recently been used in workshops for wounded soldiers from Afghanistan and Syria, coming to terms with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

And Sophocles play has inspired many modern interpretations, not least Seamus Heaney’s Cure at Troy and Tom Stoppard’s Neutral Ground.

Kae Tempest is following in the footsteps of giants.

Director Ian Rickson said you never know what will happen when you give “an old play” to a new writer.

In Tempest’s hands the answer is an updating that is highly politicized and centred on the conflicts of today.

Rae Smith’s set cleverly conjures up the all too familiar scenes of contemporary refugee camps, and there are many echoes of recent conflicts.

Lesley Sharp gives an extraordinary performance as Philoctetes, or ‘Phil,’ reinventing him as a foul-mouthed East End trooper.

A lot of time is spent dropping her ‘H’s, while ranting about city boys urinating on the homeless etc.

Pitted against him are Anastasia Hille’s Odysseus, played as a careerist British army officer, and Gloria Obianyo’s equally calculating Neoptolemus.

Tempest adds a somewhat laboured class dimension to their exploitation of Philoctetes.

Interestingly, Tempest dramatically expands the traditional Greek chorus to create a whole refugee camp of women who crack jokes, and generally wink at the audience.

Many of these stand out with strong performances including Naomi Wirthner as Yasmeen and the wonderful Sutara Gayle as Jelly.

ESKA playing ‘Aunty’ also brings some drama to the stage as she stomps her stick rhythmically and prophesizes doom.

This powerful group of women deliver a lot of humour in an otherwise gruelling evening.

At some points Tempest’s writing borders on parody. The women seem to be a vegan collective of some kind, and when the wounded Odysseus is offered healing from rosemary, oregano, and garlic he barks back at them – “I’m not a ****ing pizza.”

On a more serious note, violence against women in war is frequently referenced, in many ways quite rightly so as it is an overlooked phenomenon brough into bitter sharp relief by the recent events in Afghanistan.

But I must confess the sense of menace is reduced when the women in the refugee camp are such strong characters, mentally and physically.

The three ‘male’ characters seem puny and unthreatening by comparison. However, shouty.

If nothing else, does at least provoke debate.

For tickets, go to- https://events.national theatre.org.uk/events/81830