Video: Inside Rehearsals for ELECTRA/PERSONA With Cate Blanchett & Nina Hoss
Cast and director reflect on merging two stories of grief, identity and performance into one production.
The National Theatre has posted a rehearsal video offering a glimpse into the making of Electra/Persona, featuring conversation with stars Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Ella Lily Hyland and director Benedict Andrews. In the clip, the team discusses the demands of the piece, with one participant asked directly which role "undid" them in the end, answering Electra, describing her as "a daughter consumed by grief and rage, clinging to the idea of justice as her world comes apart."
Electra/Persona is a new play from Andrews that fuses two narratives. The first draws on the ancient myth of Electra, while the second, Persona, imagines an actress falling silent mid-performance, triggering what the production describes as a rupture between two women as speech breaks down and the line between self and role gives way. The work is billed as an exploration of identity and the fragile boundary separating performer from character.
The production brings together Blanchett, known for The Seagull, and Hoss, known for The Cherry Orchard, alongside Ella Lily Hyland, recognized for Black Doves. Andrews, whose past credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, directs the piece, which is set to run in the Lyttelton Theatre at The National Theatre in London from Wednesday, August 19 to Saturday, October 10, 2026.
The rehearsal footage gives audiences an early look at how the company is approaching the dual narrative structure, with the actors and director discussing the psychological weight of moving between mythic tragedy and the more intimate, unsettling territory of Persona.
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