Electra: Kristin Scott Thomas Electrifies at The Old Vic

In January Kristen Scott Thomas declared that she was done with the movies and planned to concentrate on the theatre.

Now she is going back to the very origin of theatre by exploring Greek Tragedy. Scott Thomas plays the title role in The Old Vic's version of Sophocles's Electra . The play explores virtue, honour, family, truth and love. It is a Greek tragedy of grand proportion and characteristic brutality, following siblings Electra and Orestes, in their plan to avenge their father Agamemnon’s death by killing his murderer -- their mother.

This production marks the third time that the Scott Thomas has teamed up with director Ian Rickson. They worked together, to much acclaim, in two Harold Pinter plays: Betrayal (2011) and Old Times (2013). As former director of the Royal Court Theatre, Rickson has broad theatrical expertise in both the West End and Broadway, spanning playwrights as diverse as Butteroworth and Ibsen. The creative partnership between Rickson and Scott Thomas has proven fruitful and promises another exhilarating production.

Sophocles's story has been adapted by Frank McGuiness. Famous for modernising and adapting Ibsen and Checkhov, McGuiness has rendered Sophocles’ sometimes dully-translated Greek into fittingly sleek and intense English. This adaptation has just finished a run on Broadway, starring Zoe Wannamaker and garnering great critical acclaim for the Irish playwright.