Blanchett and Hoffman to Direct Plays in Sydney in '07

According to Variety, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman--both stars of stage and screen--will direct productions for the Sydney Theatre Company next year.

Oscar-winner Blanchett, who most recently won raves for starring in Hedda Gabler at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (as well as earlier at STC), will stage David Harrower's tense drama Blackbird, while Oscar-winner Hoffman will direct the world premiere of Andrew Upton's Riflemind.

Blanchett will first make her directorial debut at STC in December as part of a double bill that will include the actress' helming Harold Pinter's A Kind of Alaska and Upton's (who is Blanchett's husband and who will also make his directorial debut) staging David Mamet's Reunion. 

Riflemind, a tale about an ex-superstar rocker seeking a comeback, will mark Hoffman's Australian directorial debut. It will star Hugo Weaving (Hedda Gabler at STC and BAM, The Matrix films).  Blackbird, meanwhile, concerns a young woman who one day shows up at the office of the older man with whom she once had an affair.  After a hit London run, that play will have its New York premiere at MTC this spring.

Hoffman, who is the co-artistic director of the Labyrinth Theatre Company, is a Tony-nominee for his performance in Long Day's Journey Into Night and has also appeared on Broadway in True West.  An Oscar-winner for Capote, he also directed the Stephen Adly Guirgis plays Jesus Hopped the A Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.  Other film credits include Cold Mountain, Almost Famous, The 25th Hour, The Big Lebowski, and Magnolia.

Blanchett, who was previously seen in a West End revival of Plenty, won an Oscar for her work in The Aviator.  She was also Oscar-nominated for her performance in Elizabeth--the film that boosted her to film stardom. other movie credits include Little Fish, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Missing, Bandits and Veronica Guerin.

Visit www.sydneytheatre.com.au for more information.