The department of theatre and dance presented a timely interpretation of Sophocles’ Electra, adapted by contemporary Irish playwright Frank McGuinness, Feb. 20-23, at Chakeres Memorial Theatre.

Enhancing the production was a set designed by Jimmy Humphries, associate professor of theatre and dance, which incorporated the stirring photography of award-winning Washington Post photojournalist Lois Raimondo ’81.

“Jimmy’s provocative set design was remarkable and made my concept come alive in ways I hadn’t imagined,” said Steven Reynolds, professor and chair of the department of theatre and dance, who directed Electra, a play about revenge and the most intimate type of murder — family member against family member. Reynolds set the production in Afghanistan to accentuate the universality of the story and to underline the tragedy of what has happened to that country.

When Raimondo saw a model of the set design, she said she was struck by its intensity and how the images brought her back to the war-torn country of Afghanistan.

“The emotions, the people, the sad, joyous rush of it all came roaring back to me,” Raimondo said. “I think the audience will flow back into moving history.”

Additional photos that Raimondo took while in Afghanistan were also on display in the theatre lobby.