Electra-fying! Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson brings back an ancient avenger

Sophocles’ classic about the bitter pursuit of justice – now revived by Daniel Fish – reveals fresh truths each time

Why do we so rarely see Sophocles’ Electra? John Burgess, in a guide to Greek and Roman drama, describes it as being, along with The Cherry Orchard, “perhaps the most formally perfect play ever written”. Nicholas Wright, in his book 99 Plays, is similarly awestruck: “Seeing the play you think, how great, how monumental.”

Yet Daniel Fish’s new production, under the title of Elektra starring Brie Larson of Captain Marvel fame (and spelling Sophokles with an unfamiliar “k”), is only the fifth major London revival in the past 75 years. Scrolling back over those past productions may give us a clue as to the play’s power even if it doesn’t explain its comparative neglect.

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