Photos: Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss in Rehearsal For ELEKTRA/PERSONA at the National Theatre

All new rehearsal photos have been released from The National Theatre's production of director and adapter Benedict Andrews’ new play Electra/Persona, which will have its world premiere in the Lyttelton theatre this September. Electra/Persona fuses Sophocles’ ancient myth Electra with Ingmar Bergman’s Persona in a powerful exploration of identity and the fragile line between who we are and who we play. Check the photos below!

Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Nina Hoss (Tár) will swap the roles of Electra/Elisabeth and Clytemnestra/Alma throughout the run. They are joined by rising talent Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves) as Chrysothemis/Reader and Patrick Robinson (War Horse) as Aegisthus/Husband.

Completing the company are Peter Eastland as understudy Aegisthus/Huband, Frankie Lipman as understudy Chrysothemis/Reader, Celia Nelson as understudy Clytemnestra/Alma and Natalie Thomas as understudy Electra/Elisabeth.

Which role undid you in the end?    Electra. A daughter consumed by grief and rage, clinging to the idea of justice as her world comes apart. Persona. During a performance of Electra, an actress suddenly falls silent. What follows is a rupture: two women drawn into an intense, unsettling encounter where speech breaks down and the boundaries between self and role give way.

Joining writer and director Benedict Andrews in the artistic team is set designer Magda Willi, Costume Designer Merle Hensel, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, lighting designer Jon Clark, sound designer Brendan Aanes, video designer Ash J Woodward, fight and intimacy directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie Ltd, casting by Alastair Coomer CDG, voice coach Cathleen McCarron, associate director Danica Selem, music associate Deanna H. Choi, associate lighting designer Skylar Turnbull Hurd and staff director Oliver Hurst.

Electra/Persona will run in the Lyttelton theatre from 19 August – 10 October 2026, with a press performance on Tuesday 1 September 2026, at 7pm.

Photo Credit: Monika Rittershaus

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