Electra
Relaxed Performance – Sensory Guide
Tuesday 11 February at 2pm The Carne Studio Theatre, LAMDA
Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes, with no interval
Content warnings:
Contains references to childbirth and child loss, death, description of gruesome death, murder or reference to murder, parental death, rape and sexual assault. Multiple reference to use of blood. This performance contains the use of haze.
Relaxed Performances at LAMDA
• You are welcome to leave and re-enter from the theatre as you need.
• There is a break-out room available called The Rittner Room
• House lighting is on low throughout, never going to full black-out.
• Loud noises are reduced.
• No strobe lighting is used.
• You are welcome to react to the show however you want.
• At the end of this document is a show synopsis and sensory guide .
Here is a guide to sensory information symbols in this document:
Indicates potentially loud or sudden noises
Indicates bright or sudden lighting changes
Indicates a sad or potentially distressing scene
Indicates fighting, or use of guns/weapons
Arriving at LAMDA
When you arrive at LAMDA, the box office is to your right. You should get your QR code ticket ready to be scanned by a LAMDA member of staff.
Toilets are located right next to box office.
LAMDA staff will be wearing LAMDA branded T-Shirts or lanyards.
If you need any assistance whilst in the building, please ask them.
This is the Theatre Foyer. You may be asked to wait here until the house is open.
You will be shown how to get to the Carne Theatre by an usher.
This performance will take place in the Carne Studio Theatre.
This is the entrance.
When you enter, an Usher will take your ticket from you.
You can sit in any seat.
The house lights will stay on low throughout the show.
There is a break-out space called ‘The Rittner Room’ which you are welcome to use at any point during your visit. It can be accessed via the stairs or lift in the main entrance foyer.
If you aren’t sure about any of this information during your visit please ask an usher or anybody wearing a lanyard.
Before the show begins, the actors will introduce themselves and the characters they are playing.
The lights in the theatre will dim and she show will start. You can leave and re-enter if you need to through the doors you came in through.
At the end of the show the actors will come on and bow. You are welcome to clap at this point if you would like.
Electra Company Headshots
CHORUS CASSIE CLARK AEGITHUS MAZLUM GUL
CHORUS DISHARI KARGUPTA
ELECTRA ELLIE LARKIN
ORESTES ALASDAIR LINN
SERVANT GAVIN RASMUSSEN
CHRYSOTHEMIS OLIVE MCHUGH
CLYTEMNESTRA THELMA GEORGIOU
Synopsis
Below is a synopsis of the play to aid in contextualizing the following sensory guide. Locked into a bloody cycle of murder and reprisal, Electra, haunted by her father's assassination, is consumed by grief and a thirst for vengeance.
When her brother Orestes at last returns, she urges him to a savage and terrifying conclusion in this charged adaptation of Sophocles' powerful tragedy.
Below is a sensory guide for the performance that shows potential distressing actions in the play, split up by scenes
PRE-SHOW
The music swells and lights go to black as the show begins.
PROLOGUE
Electra walks around the stage and she is visibly distressed She falls to the floor in tears. The music gets louder as she does this.
SCENE 1
The Servant and Orestes both enter with their faces covered, but they soon remove their balaclavas.
We hear a loud cry from offstage.
SCENE 2
Electra enters and is still visibly distressed. She is describing her father’s gruesome death by her mother, Clytemnestra and her husband, Aegithus.
Electra is very sad and thinks she has nothing left to live for.
SCENE 3
Chrysothemis, Electra’s sister, tells Electra about the plans she has heard for Electra by Clytemnestra and Aegithus; that she will be taken out of the country and buried alive in a dungeon.
SCENE 4
Clytemnestra enters and tells Electra to stop lamenting her father She describes how her father murdered her daughter, and Electra’s sister, Iphigenia as a sacrifice, which is why she murdered him.
Clytemnestra is angry and speaking very loudly. Electra also raises her voice at Clytemnestra.
SCENE 5
The Servant tells Electra that Orestes is dead (we learnt earlier that this was a trick). Electra falls to the floor and cries very loudly. The Servant describes how Orestes ‘dies’ in detail. Throughout this, Electra is extremely upset.
SCENE 6
After Clytemnestra and the servant leave into the palace, there is a tense drone sound that is in the background of Electra shouting to the Gods. She is angry and sad that her brother is now also dead and is howling and shouting in pain to the Gods.
At the end of the scene, there is more tense and loud music as Electra howls in sadness.
SCENE 7
Electra tells Chrysothemis that Orestes is dead, and she is extremely upset. Electra tells her that they must murder AegithusChrysothemis is shocked and has a strong physical reaction to this, whilst Electra holds on to her, which could be uncomfortable to watch.
SCENE 8
During Electra’s speech, there is a noise of a drone underneath which is tense. Electra is visibly upset again.
SCENE 9
Orestes enters, pretending not to be himself, and gives Electra the urn of Orestes’ pretend ashes. She is very upset as she mourns, and falls to the floor and sobs. She says that she also wants to die.
SCENE 10
As Orestes and the Servant enter the palace, a drone sound gets louder and rumbles throughout the scene.
Electra and the two Chorus start banging their fists against the floor.
From offstage we hear screams and shouting from Clytemnestra; she is being murdered. There is a quiet ringing noise after all of the shouting and screaming is over.
Orestes and the Servant re-enter the space with blood over their hands and clothes. This is fake blood.
The doors open and we see a body on the floor covered in a white cloth. Aegithus lifts the cloth and it is Clytemnestra who has been killed, with blood all across her face.
Orestes has a knife that he is going to kill Aegithus with - this is a fake knife
At the end of the scene there is a bright light and then a blackout,
During the end people will clap and may stand up, cheer or shout to tell the actors they did a good job.