Cate Blanchett to return to London stage after six years

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett will return to the London stage after six years in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull.

The Australian film star will play celebrated actress Arkadina while The Musketeers actor Tom Burke will star as her lover Trigorin.

It marks a return to the Barbican Theatre stage for Blanchett, 55, who last performed at the venue in Botho Strauss’s Big And Small (Gross Und Klein) in 2012.

Her last London theatre role was in a 2019 production of Martin Crimp’s When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other at the National Theatre.

The production reunites Blanchett and Burke, 43, who have recently completed filming on Steven Soderbergh-directed thriller Black Bag.

Burke has worked on TV shows including The Crown, The Lazarus Project and mini-series Great Expectations, and has appeared in theatre shows including Romeo And Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe and the UK tour of Don Carlos.

Blanchett has an extensive career on stage as well as starring in films including Notes On A Scandal (2006), Blue Jasmine (2013) and Ocean’s Eight (2018).

The play follows Arkadina as she arrives at her family’s country estate for the weekend and finds herself caught up in a storm of conflicting desires.

Her playwright son, Konstantin, struggles to step out of her shadow as he pursues his own artistic ambitions and her lover Trigorin becomes the object of affection for the aspiring young actress Nina.

Another production of The Seagull, starring Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke, played in London two years ago.

Director Thomas Ostermeier said: “I have known and admired Cate for many years and to see her on stage is always a privilege.

“I am thrilled that we will make our first artistic collaboration with this production of The Seagull at the Barbican, and that London will experience this once-in-a-generation actress in one of the greatest theatrical roles of Arkadina.

“I’m also very pleased to be forging a new artistic relationship with Tom Burke, who will play the role of Trigorin.”

The production will play a limited six-week run at the Barbican Theatre from February 2025. Public bookings will open on October 9.

The full cast and creative team will be announced shortly.