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17th March 2026
By Amelia Barnie – MA Drama Writing Student
“This piece interrogates how we honour and value lives and experiences and look beyond statistics to explore the real consequences of conflict.”
During the Peloponnesian War (409 BCE), the great Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles wrote Philoctetes; the tragic tale of a wounded soldier abandoned on an island after suffering a snake bite, until Odysseus and Neoptolemus, two fellow Greek soldiers, arrive to retrieve him and his legendary bow, an essential weapon for securing victory in the Trojan War.
Over two thousand years late, Kae Tempest reimagined this myth in Paradise in 2021 against the backdrop of Brexit, rising nationalism, and a global pandemic. Blending the original classical structure with modern language, Tempest reframed the story through a contemporary lens, reflecting a timely and familiar world grappling with isolation and neglect.
Today, Paradise feels more urgent than ever. In a world where wars are continually erupting and communities are left vulnerable and traumatised, Paradise reminds us that ordinary people, (soldiers, refugees, those living with trauma), bear the weight of decisions made by the powerful. By centering these experiences, the play asks audiences to confront compassion and accountability, showing that progress is meaningless without care for those affected.
Director Iqbal Khan places community at the heart of the story, focusing on how people come together after rupture to build something purposeful. The set reflects a world cleverly constructed from found materials reshaped into shelter, clothes, and meaning. As Khan explains, “This piece interrogates how we honour and value lives and experiences, looking beyond statistics to explore the real consequences of conflict.” Paradise is a powerful work for today’s audiences and actors alike. It offers thrilling challenges for actors, including the art of epic storytelling with poetic and lyrical text, a story that demands courage and moral imagination, and a mix of tremendous scale with intimate confrontation. The play questions complacent notions of heroism, examines the cost of power, and champions compassion, showing that the strongest communities protect their most vulnerable members.
Paradise is both ancient and immediate, reminding us that the question Sophocles asked still remains; not simply how we win, but who we leave behind, and whether we have the courage to make things right.
