Cate Blanchett reunites with her Tar co-star Nina Hoss in first-look pictures from their upcoming National Theatre play Electra/Persona.
The Australian and German actresses played a couple in the 2022 Oscar-nominated psychological drama about a world-renowned conductor whose life unravels after she is accused of misconduct.
They are now starring in the world premiere of Benedict Andrews’ new production, which fuses Sophocles’ ancient myth Electra with Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 film Persona.
The National Theatre has called it a “powerful exploration of identity and the fragile line between who we are and who we play”.
Ahead of its premiere next week, first-look images show the pair during rehearsals, including one in which they can be seen staring intensely at each other.
Another shows Blanchett, 57, holding a hammer while sitting on stairs and staring down below her.
One also shows her laughing as a screen behind her displays a black-and-white photograph of her co-star smiling while another shows them looking distressed as Blanchett bows her head while Hoss, 51, looks over her.
The pair are also seen in another photograph with their co-star Ella Lily Hyland, who is wearing a long white dress, while Blanchett sits by her feet staring up at Hoss, who is wearing a long fur coat and admiring a pink dress she is holding.
Other images show Patrick Robinson sitting in the rehearsal room while others have director Andrews advising the actresses.
Throughout the show’s run, Blanchett and Hoss will swap the roles of Electra/Elisabeth and Clytemnestra/Alma.
Hyland will play Chrysothemis/Reader while Robinson is Aegisthus/Husband.
The synopsis for the show teases: “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.”
Blanchett and Andrews have also previously worked together three times – on The War Of The Roses in 2009, Big And Small in 2011 and The Maids in 2013.
He also directed Hoss in The Cherry Orchard at the Donmar Warehouse in 2024.
Throughout her career Blanchett has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Actor Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globes, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award.
She and her husband, Andrew Upton, were also the artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 to 2013.
Electra/Persona will run in the Lyttelton theatre from August 19 until October 10.
Tickets are now on sale at nationaltheatre.org.uk
