Brie Larson will make her West End debut next year in ‘Elektra’

Academy Award winner and the literal Captain Marvel Brie Larson will make her West End debut early next year in a brand new production of an Ancient Greek tragedy.

‘Elektra’ by Sophocles is set in the aftermath of the Trojan War and long story short Elektra’s dad Agamemnon sacrificed Elektra’s sister Iphigenia to the gods in order to facilitate said war, Iphigenia and Elektra’s mum Clytemnestra didn’t like that and had Agamemnon killed, and ‘Elektra’ (the play) sees our heroine plotting murderous revenge on her mum. 

Got that? Great! Regardless, this is profoundly unlikely to be a trad production of the play: unusually for a UK premiere the creating team is pretty much all made up of leftfield US talent: the adaptation is by poet Anne Carson, direction comes from Daniel Fish (who did the honours for the brilliant recent revival of ‘Oklahoma!’) and it’ll be choreographed by the legendary Annie-B Parson.

Of course, Larson is the big draw: despite a career inevitably now overshadowed by the three Marvel films she’s appeared in, it’s easy to forget what a versatile talent she is, with roots in indie cinema, dabblings in directing, producing and screenwriting, and of course a literal Oscar for her role in claustrophobic abduction drama ‘Room’.

Says Larson: ‘I couldn’t be more excited to perform in this Greek drama, or in better company collaborating with Daniel Fish and Anne Carson. Storytelling has always been the way I organize life, feelings and experiences. I look forward to sharing space with the wonderful West End audience while we explore this timeless story.’

She has done some stage work but not since hitting the big time time - this West End run (preceded by a week in Brighton) will be something of a trial by fire, but with the sense she’s probably a bit over Marvel now, she’s surely going to rise to the challenge.

‘Elektra’ is at the Duke of York’s Theatre, Jan 24-Apr 12 2025. Before that it plays Theatre Royal Brighton Jan 13-18. Tickets go on sale Oct 2. You can buy them here.

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