The National Theatre is staging Electra/Persona, a production that pairs Sophocles' Electra with Ingmar Bergman's Persona, directed by Benedict Andrews. The show stars Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss, who will alternate roles across both plays: Electra and Clytemnestra in Electra, and Elisabeth and Alma in Persona.
A bold fusion of ancient and modern
Andrews, who describes himself as 'Ice-Stralian', has long been fascinated by Bergman's work. 'Persona is a pinnacle of modernist cinema and Bergman is a north star for me,' he says. 'I’ve long been fascinated by the impossibility – in a good way – of staging Persona, because it is so much about the camera and the silence and the closeup: the face as a terrain. And I was always fascinated by why Bergman chose to have Elisabeth break down while playing Electra, so I wanted to put them together.'
The production links the two dramas with a 'coup de théâtre' at the end of the first half. Andrews explains that 'the whole evening is one cycle of grief.'
Alternating roles and nightly surprises
The original plan had Blanchett and Hoss tossing a coin on stage to decide who plays which role, but Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead made that risky. Instead, they will follow a schedule and swap night by night, with the audience unaware of the casting until the first actor appears. 'We’re searching for something in which they each play the logic of the scene, but it may come out in different ways,' says Andrews.
Both actresses previously worked together in the film Tár, where Hoss played Blanchett's wife. Andrews notes that 'they are two actresses who are equally astonishing but play their instruments differently.'
Rehearsing two plays at once
Rehearsing Electra/Persona involves preparing four permutations, leading to long days. Andrews says it is important to work on both plays daily: 'Although they require very different energies. It’s not a double-bill; it’s one hinged work. There are perforations from Bergman in the first half and from Sophocles in the second half.'
Andrews previously staged a version of Aeschylus's The Oresteia in Iceland, which shares characters with Electra. He admits there is a 'huge' overlap, having moved text between the two shows. 'I hadn’t expected to be living with this crazy fucking family for so long!' he jokes.
The relevance of Greek tragedy today
Andrews believes Greek tragedies are experiencing a resurgence because of contemporary crises. 'In these times of big political and moral crisis, we need them. The reason we are digging in this Greek rubble and soil is that these plays were made in an imperial warring empire, that was first triumphant and then later broke apart. And we are watching that with American imperialism now.'
He also addresses critiques of radical reinterpretations. When asked about disrupting classics, he says, 'I don’t think of it as disrupting classics. I’m trying to access the mythic power in the piece; X-ray the inner meaning.'
Electra/Persona runs at the National Theatre, London, from 19 August to 10 October.
