Electra/Persona tickets

See Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss star in Electra/Persona, Benedict Andrews’s new production at the National Theatre. Book Electra/Persona tickets on London Theatre.

Electra/Persona is a play that combines two stories about women pushed to their limits. The first comes from Sophocles’ Electra, a story about a daughter consumed by her father's murder who waits for her brother Orestes to return so they can seek revenge against their mother, Clytemnestra.

The show then moves into the world of Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 film Persona. An actress named Elisabeth stops speaking during a performance and withdraws from working. Alma, the woman assigned to care for her, becomes caught up in a complex relationship with the patient, and the lines between the two women begin to blur considerably.

Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss lead the production, but their roles are not fixed, as the actors alternate roles throughout the run. They each take turns playing Electra and Elisabeth or Clytemnestra and Alma. This unique casting reflects the production’s interest in highlighting themes of doubles and how people can change dramatically in the face of grief.

Blanchett, who recently appeared on the London stage in The Seagull, reunites with Hoss following their work in the film Tár. Hoss also previously collaborated with Andrews on The Cherry Orchard. Ella Lily Hyland and Patrick Robinson appear alongside Blanchett and Hoss.

Electra/Persona in London boasts a formidable creative team including direction by Andrews, set design by Magda Willi, costume design by Merle Hensel, composing by Academy Award-winning Hildur Guðnadóttir, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Brendan Aanes, and video design by Ash J Woodward.

This production brings two stories, one an ancient family tragedy and the other a brilliant piece of 20th-century film, together to create a show centred on women and the fluid, almost unstable, nature of identity and the roles we play.