Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, The Aviator) and Tom Burke (Rosmersholm, The Crown) 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 in February 2025; tickets will go on sale to the general public October 9.

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.

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

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 a 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.”

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

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