Paradise review: Lesley Sharp owns the stage in Kae Tempest’s electric Greek myth remake

The first full capacity show at the National Theatre since before the pandemic commands complete hush
Lesley Sharp as Philoctetes
Helen Murray

This electric reworking of Sophocles’ Philoctetes by poet and Mercury Prize nominee Kae Tempest commands complete hush in the National Theatre’s Olivier, the first full capacity show here since before the pandemic. The set, a makeshift camp, is lo-fi, but Ian Rickson’s production doesn’t need fancy sets or jazzy costumes; it relies on captivating writing and towering performances, and those are transporting enough.

Philoctetes is one of the more B-side Greek myths: essentially the story of a man who annoys his boss, commander Odysseus, and gets dumped on an island for ten years with a gammy leg, but maintains his status as a legendary soldier with a magical bow. So much so that Odysseus returns later with sidekick Neoptolemus to try and persuade him to return to battle to boost the morale of a flagging army. The problem is, in the intervening years Philoctetes has started living in a cave and, understandably, isn’t very trusting.

Lesley Sharp owns the stage as Philoctetes, rollicking around like a wheeler dealer who revels in their own legend. She fizzes with rage and resentment, then quivers with vulnerability, inhabiting every inch of the arc of the hero’s tragedy. Also excellent is Anastasia Hille as Odysseus, all drawling machismo, and Gloria Obianyo as Neoptolemus, buttoned up and dutiful. The chorus give natural performances that emphasise them as a close-knit community rather than theatrical devices. This is an all-female cast, but the parts aren’t gender-switched; it’s a simple but brilliantly effective way to highlight that the hubris of masculinity is a merely a performance.

Gloria Obianyo (Neoptolemus) and Anastasia Hille (Odysseus)
Helen Murray

At one hour and fifty minutes without an interval, the pace occasionally gets a bit languid. There’s also a smidge of capital P political speechifying that’s a bit on the nose (but kudos to Tempest for getting the line “there is no glory in our country, our country is hell” spoken in our National Theatre). But this is an absorbing evening, with writing that is often very funny.

Paradise feels particularly resonant for the current moment even though it was programmed before the pandemic. It’s about the dangers of pride, the damage of isolation and the need to overcome our pessimism and hold on to hope. Most of all, it’s a tribute to storytelling that warns against mythmaking. In one of the play’s best lines, Odysseus says, “If I don’t make it back and they ask what happened, make it a better story than it was.”

National Theatre, until Sept 11; nationaltheatre.org.uk

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