Review by Daz Gale
⭐️
It's the age-old story - You wait a lifetime for a production of an Ancient Greek play starring a Hollywood A-lister to open in London and then two open in two days. Following the opening of the Rami Malek-led Oedipus at the Old Vic yesterday, a Marvel superhero comes to town as Brie Larson opens Elektra at the Duke of York’s theatre. With Room for both, would Elektra give audiences something to Marvel at or would it prove to be a tragedy?
Marking the UK Premiere production of Anne Carson’s translation of Sophokles’ Greek tragedy, it sees Elektra (Brie Larson) consumed by grief and a thirst for vengeance following her father’s assassination. When her long-lost brother returns, she puts a plan in place to fulfill her desire once and for all. That is the description from the press release, at least. If I had to tell you the story based on this production itself, I don’t think I’d be able to.
Before I get into my thoughts on this play, you will undoubtedly have noticed the solitary star at the top of this review. The rarest of ratings, I don’t give 1 star out lightly as I’m a firm believer if a show has even one element or aspect of production value that is salvageable, it warrants a 2-star review. The 1-star reviews are reserved only for those shows I consider irredeemable. Sadly, Elektra falls into that category though I take no joy in saying that.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong here but, to me, nothing worked at all. The bare-bones stage is not pleasant to look at with a randomness to the aesthetic and props adorning it that I couldn’t figure out for the life of me. Theatre is, of course, subjective and I’m sure there are others who would understand what this production was going for but I’ll counter that by saying theatre should never feel inaccessible and, if it does, it hasn’t done its job properly. Though if anyone does know the significance of the blimp (yes, blimp) above the stage, you’re clearly on the same wavelength as the creatives here whereas I very clearly am not.
The sound is among the worst I have ever witnessed with the choice of Brie Larson to always speak, shout or sing into a wired microphone while other cast members speak at moments without a microphone and their backs turned to the audience showed a lack of understanding for theatre in general and made certain sequences inaudible. Larson also uses another microphone for a vocoder effect and steps on a pedal at times. What does this have to do with the story? Absolutely nothing. Does it add anything to the story? Let me clear my throat as I sing this with my own dulcet tones… “No”.
Confused? Perhaps the strangest choice in this production of Elektra is for Larson to continually sing the word “NO” whenever it comes up throughout the play. Even if it was mid-sentence for seemingly NO reason whatsoever leaving me struggling to KNOW what the reason behind it was other than “art for art’s sake”. It all comes across rather pretentious and a deliberate attempt at doing performance art for no reason other than to be quirky or different. Its overusage for no obvious reason whatsoever soon became very grating with the unnatural pattern making it hard to connect with the material as it always took you out of the moment, always feeling very random and always failing to land.
The visuals don’t fare much better with one crucial sequence between two characters losing all effect due to an overzealous smoke machine completely obscuring them both from view. Where this director’s use of a prolonged blackout in a previous revival of Oklahoma! was impactful, the only impact this causes is pure frustration. The rather random comparison that popped into my brain was Maureen’s ‘Over The Moon’ sequence in Rent. A weird thing to say, maybe, but watch this with that performance in your head and you may understand why – though while that thankfully is only a few minutes long, Elektra outstays its welcome. This may only be a single act consisting of 75 minutes but it felt like the longest 75 minutes of my life.
The randomness is part of the problem with the messy nature of this production. It very much feels like a case of throw everything at it and see what works, forgetting the compatibility element. Where deliberate clashes can make a beautiful and unexpected blend, that is not the case here. One of the more random elements sees an inclusion of a Beyoncé song though I failed to see the purpose apart from the on-the-nose theme of daddy issues. As I watched the action progress, I thought it felt a bit like a school project, but even that would be a disservice to the talent of those who create school projects. Whatever it is, a production as shocking as this has no business being on a major West End stage – incredibly surprising given the track record and usual quality of those producing it.
The biggest fault here sits with the direction… or lack thereof, should I say. I struggle to see what the director was trying to achieve here. Bold choices are one thing but they need to payoff and not one of them does here. Miss after miss after miss, I still can’t believe the man behind the Oklahoma! revival could create something as chaotic and clumsy as this.
Brie Larson is obviously an incredibly gifted actress. Her performance in Room knocked me off my feet and deservedly bagged her an Academy Award. This review is not a reflection of her talent, nor her cast members, many of whom I have seen shine in multiple productions over the years. The fault here sits solely with the direction they have been given. Actors can only do so much with the tools they are given and, disappointingly, they have been given a set of duds here. Take Stockard Channing, for instance, who attempts to make the most of her small and badly fleshed-out role but has to deal with what I perceived to be a Donald Trump impression during her brief stage time. And then there is the wonderful Patrick Vaill whose attempts to recite Anne Carson’s poetic-like translation in one key sequence transforms into a rap every bit as ill-advised as you would expect. The cast may well be good, and I know that they are, but how could anyone tell with a production as confused as this?
I always say theatre at its best makes you feel and it would be wrong to say this production of Elektra didn’t make me feel anything. Unfortunately, all I felt was annoyance at the wasted talent on that stage and all the squandered potential. Perhaps I didn’t understand what the point of any of it was and that is on me, but if anything manages to surpass this as the biggest disappointment of 2025, I would be very surprised. Though I have no doubt at the talent of all involved in this production, clashes in visions and a real lack of cohesiveness makes Elektra a massive misfire. Should this have ever seen a major stage when it clearly was in dire need of development? Let me sing it again for you… NO.
Elektra plays at Duke Of York’s Theatre until 12th April. Tickets available here
Photos by Helen Murray