Greek tragedy alongside Oscar-winner Brie Larson in Brighton

It plays the Theatre Royal Brighton from Monday to Saturday, January 13-18 before the production moves to Duke of York’s Theatre in London for an 11-week season from Friday, January 24. The cast includes Brie Larson (Room, Lessons in Chemistry, Captain Marvel), who will be making her West End debut and Stockard Channing (The West Wing, The Good Wife).

Brie is Elektra; Marième is her sister Chrysothemis.

“It is exciting,” Marième says, from rehearsals. “It is also intense and it is also very much a creative process together in the room. It's exciting to know what direction the play is going to take and what the vision is for our director Daniel Fish. It is very much in the moment in every scene and just seeing where it is going to go.”

“We've got a Greek style and a Greek world but it's very modern in the way that it communicates and in the way that life shows itself right now. It is not a surprise to say that the play is talking about revenge and death, and we're all looking at a world all the time where people are dying. You see the news and social media and it's become almost normalised but in this play there are characters that don't want to normalise it.

“My character is Elektra’s sister and she is living in a world and a society where she is also oppressed in the way that Elektra is but it's very different in the way that they deal with things. Chrysothemis is more logical and she's very aware of the world as it is but Elektra sees things differently. She wants to see action. She wants revenge. She wants something to come out of it but my character is more observing. She is more realistic. She knows what little powers she has and how little she can do and she thinks you have to be realistic in that way. She knows how to pick her battles.”

There are currently a number of Greek tragedies on the stage in London: “I don't know whether that is coincidence or whether it's a plan but I would love to see other productions just to see how they do them. I've never done Greek tragedy professionally before. We did some stuff at drama school but this is my first Greek tragedy professionally and it is just so exciting. It feels very tangible. The writing is so exciting and so powerful.”

And it is great that the production is coming to Brighton first: “I haven't been to the venue but I do know Brighton. Who doesn't love Brighton? I tend to go to Brighton every summer. I love being around the water, and everyone in Brighton is so open and so nice and friendly. It's just a great place to be.”