Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, The Aviator) and Tom Burke (Rosmersholm, The Crown), as previously reported, will star in a new version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull next year at London's Barbican Theatre.

Penned by Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier, the six-week engagement will also be directed by Ostermeier. Performances will begin February 26, 2025, prior to an official opening March 6.

Blanchett will star as Arkadina, the celebrated actress who returns to her family's country estate and finds herself caught up in a storm of conflicting desires. Her playwright son, Konstantin, struggles to step out of her shadow, and her lover Trigorin, played by Burke, becomes the object of affection for the aspiring young actress Nina.

Newly announced for the production are Priyanga Burford as Polina, Emma Corrin as Nina, Zachary Hart as Medvedenko, Paul Higgins as Shamrayev, Tanya Reynolds as Masha, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Konstantin, and Jason Watkins as Sorin.

The production will reunite Blanchett and Burke, who recently completed filming Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag. It will also reunite Ostermeier with producer Wessex Grove, who collaborated earlier this year on the director’s West End debut, An Enemy of the People starring Matt Smith.

In an earlier statement 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 also have set design by Magda Willi, costume design by Marg Horwell, sound design by Tom Gibbons, and casting by Jim Carnahan and Liz Fraser.

Wessex Grove and Gavin Kalin Productions produce in association with the Barbican.

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