In this review, Hawkins encapsulates the plot of Electra and appraises a 1987production of the play.

High on the wall of the scenae frons for this production of Sophocles' Electra is hung a gigantic reproduction of Schliemann's so-called "mask of Agamemnon." This giant face, its mouth rendered much more severe than in the original—so severe that under many of the lighting conditions of the performance, it seems to harden into a scowl— stands as mute witness to this play, with its bizarre remnants of his great Mycenean kingdom. Hanging profusely, even haphazardly, below the face are black curtains which catch the light at certain times in the play, looking at these moments like a blood-streaked shroud, littered with slashes. More significant use might have been made of the face: although it possesses an attitude, we do not sense that the characters do what they...