Cate Blanchett and Tom Burke to star in The Seagull at London’s Barbican

Blanchett’s character Arkadina is a celebrated actress whose larger-than-life presence dominates both the stage and her personal relationships.

But when she arrives at her family’s country estate for the weekend, she must navigate a series of conflicts.

Her son struggles to step out of her shadow, and her lover becomes the romantic target of an aspiring young actress. The play explores themes including ambition, vanity, disappointment and desire.

The Seagull will be produced by Wessex Grove, the same team behind Ostermeier’s production of An Enemy of the People, which starred Matt Smith earlier this year.

Blanchett last performed on the Barbican stage in 2012’s Big and Small (Gross und Klein).

Her last theatre role overall, however, was just before the Covid pandemic, in a 2019 production of When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other at the National Theatre.

Blanchett has had a long and varied film career, with credits including Carol, Nightmare Alley, Tar, Don’t Look Up, Notes on a Scandal, Thor: Ragnarok and Ocean’s 8.

She has been nominated for eight acting Oscars, winning twice – for The Aviator and Blue Jasmine.

Burke has appeared in The Wonder, Living, The Souvenir and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as well as the BBC’s Strike.