Written and directed by Benedict Andrews, Electra/Persona is two plays conjoined. The first is a version of Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy Electra, and the second is a stage adaptation of the 1966 Ingmar Bergman film Persona.

In Sophocles’ play, Electra seeks vengeance for her father, Agamemnon, who upon returning from war was murdered by her mother, Clytemnestra.

Clytemnestra feels justified in the killing because Agamemnon sacrificed her first-born daughter, Iphigenia, to win the gods’ favour in war. Electra and her other sister, Chrysothemis, wait for the return of their brother, Orestes, whom Electra hopes will enact the revenge.

At the start of Persona, the famous actress Elisabeth Vogler has stopped speaking entirely after performing onstage as Electra. In hospital, a doctor assigns a young and talkative nurse, Alma, to help in Elisabeth’s recovery.

Alma accompanies Elisabeth when her convalescence is transferred to a house in the country. Filling the silence, Alma begins to share her deepest secrets. When she discovers that Elisabeth has been writing letters to the doctor about her confessions, a confrontation ensues.

Linking these two narratives brings to the fore a range of complex meanings. Instead of driving a particular message home, Andrews happily trusts the audience to draw their own connections.

The play stars Cate Blanchet and Nina Hoss, who take turns at the roles of Electra/Elisabeth or Clytemnestra/Alma depending on the toss of a coin.

This sets up the continued themes of blurring........

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