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Cate Blanchett to make Broadway debut in early Chekhov play

The actress will star in The Present alongside Richard Roxburgh, who will also be making his Broadway debut. 

Clarisse Loughrey
Thursday 28 January 2016 15:05 GMT
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Cate Blanchett is set to make her Broadway debut in an adaptation of The Present, Anton Chekhov's early, untitled play.

She'll be reprising her role in The Sydney Theatre Company's 2015 production, as adapted by Andrew Upton, when it comes to Broadway later this year (via The Guardian). Though Blanchett has previously performed in New York with the STC, appearing in productions of Hedda Gabler, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Maids; this will be the first production to open on Broadway.

Chekhov's work, usually called Platonov, was originally written in 1878; rejected by the actress it was intended for, the play was not published until 1923. Chekhov had been deceased 19 years by that time, nor did he ever see his previously lost work staged.

Upton's adaptation moves events to Russia of the mid-'90s, in the aftermath of the Soviet dissolution; as the Don Juan-like schoolteacher Mikhail Platonov struggles with affections of four women while attending the birthday celebrations of wealthy widow Anna Petrovna (Blanchett), the one that got away.

Also debuting on Broadway is co-star Richard Roxburgh, playing Platonov, best known for his villainous turn in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!. They'll feature alongside Jacqueline McKenzie, Marshall Napier, and Toby Schmitz.

Upton also served as executive producer on Carol, which saw his spouse, Blanchett, nominated for the Academy Award alongside co-star Rooney Mara.

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