Oscar Winner Cate Blanchett Takes Uncle Vanya to the Kennedy Center

Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and the Sydney Theatre Company will return to the Kennedy Center with a new adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, adapted by Blanchett’s husband and co-artistic director of Sydney Theatre Company, Andrew Upton. Tamás Ascher directs the production, which will run August 4-27, 2011 at the Washington, D.C. theater.

Blanchett will play Yelena opposite Hugo Weaving as Astrov and Richard Roxburgh in the title role. The cast will also include John Bell, Sandy Gore, Hayley McElhinney, Anthony Phelan, Andrew Tighe and Jacki Weaver.

On a dilapidated, remote farm, Uncle Vanya and his niece Sonya have worked slavishly for years to sustain an estate in decline. Now Professor Serebryakov and his wife Yelena have returned to visit, bringing with them chaos and disruption. From this hotbed of disarray grows three consuming love affairs, each of which is destined to wither in disappointment before it has reached bloom.

The Sydney Theatre Company was last seen on the Kennedy Center stage with their production of A Streetcar Named Desire, which starred Blanchett as Blanche DuBois. This Blanchett-led Uncle Vanya originally ran from November 13, 2010 through January 1, 2011 at the Australian theater company’s home in Sydney. For a look at this starry production, check out the trailer below.