Cate Blanchett to Star in The Seagull

Cate Blanchett is set to return to the London stage next spring as Arkadina in a new version of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, adapted by Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier, at the Barbican Theatre for a strictly limited six-week run from February 2025.

She will be joined by Tom Burke (Mad Max: Furiosa), with the pair recently working together on Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming 2025 film Black Bag. 

Ostermeier, who staged a version of The Seagull last year, 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.”

Over 100 £20 tickets will be available at every performance. Tickets go on sale at 10am on October 7 for Barbican Patrons, 4pm on October 7 for Barbican Members Plus, 10am on October 8 for standard Barbican Members, and 12pm on October 8 for Wessex Grove’s (one of the co-producers) priority list. General on-sale will be on October 9 at 10am.

Blanchett previously appeared on the Barbican stage in 2012, following a transfer of Sydney Theatre Company’s version of Botho Strauss’s Big and Small (Gross und Klein), adapted by Martin Crimp with direction from Benedict Andrews. She made her Broadway debut in 2017 in The Present, Andrew Upton’s adaptation of Chekhov’s early play, Platonov.

The full cast and creative team, as well as exact show dates, will be revealed at a later date.