The reviews are in for Electra/Persona, the world premiere in which Benedict Andrews welds Sophocles's Electra to Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film Persona, and has Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss toss a coin in front of the audience each night to settle who plays whom. It is the boldest structural gamble at the National this year, and the critics have answered it with unusual consistency: unqualified admiration for the two performances, and a widely shared doubt about whether the halves ever become one play. The Electra section is repeatedly named the stronger, and it is after the switch into Persona that the enthusiasm thins.
The verdict: seven notices so far, and every one of them carries a rating - one five-star, two four-star and four three-star, averaging 3.6 out of 5. The spread is unusually easy to read. Not a single critic has a reservation about Cate Blanchett or Nina Hoss; the stars are decided almost entirely by whether the reviewer thinks the Sophocles half and the Bergman half become one play.
What are critics saying about Electra/Persona?
BroadwayWorld
Reviewer: Clementine Scott
"But the production's real strength is in the elegant parallels it draws, to form a new whole that enriches and enhances the work of both Sophocles and Bergman."
Time Out
"Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss are bloody amazing"
Reviewer: Andrzej Lukowski
"And they are really bloody good, and watching them journey to the deepest recesses of the characters' blurred souls is all you should want from the stage, really."
London Box Office
Reviewer: Stuart King
"Ultimately then, a stylish piece which is well-acted, cleverly crafted and slickly presented."
The Guardian
"Blanchett and Hoss face off in lopsided Sophocles/Bergman double bill"
Reviewer: Arifa Akbar
"As a double bill, of sorts, the first is the showcase, not only of its two central performers but the power of performance itself."
WhatsOnStage
Reviewer: Sarah Crompton
"Watching these two great actresses strut their stuff is never less than dazzling. It's an odd night of theatre, but their presence makes it a thrilling one."
LondonTheatre.co.uk
"Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss are at the top of their game"
Reviewer: Anya Ryan
"Unquestionably the strongest, more inventive section of the evening, its power dissipates once we move onto Persona after around 50 minutes."
Production photographs by Monika Rittershaus.
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Holly O'Mahony, three stars, "Theatre for the head, not the heart"), whose review sits behind a paywall.
The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent and the Evening Standard had not published at the time of writing, so this roundup will be worth revisiting. For more of what the critics have been saying this season, see our other London theatre review roundups.
Electra/Persona runs at the Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, until Saturday 10 October 2026.
