Women Of Troy - TNT

Never one to stick closely to conventional interpretation of classic works, director Katie Mitchell has effectively transposed Euripides' Trojan women from 415 BC to the dimly lit canteen of a '40s dockside warehouse — where they shiver in strappy evening gowns nervously reapplying lipstick as they wait to hear their fate. Helen of Troy (the cause of the war that led to the downfall of their city) moves frantically and seductively back and forth along the office corridor above them, a silent witness to their mounting grief as the clanging of metal shutters heralds yet another outrage in the aftermath of war. The dialogue isn't always clear, but as the women dissolve into eerily elegant dance routines (a memory, perhaps, of former happier times), the effect is visually and emotionally compelling.
Lyttelton at the National, South Bank, SE1 (020-7452 3000). Until February 27. £39.50-£10