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Oscar winners Hoffman , Blanchett to direct Aussie plays
2006-09-27
Oscar-winning actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett will step out of the spotlight to direct stage plays in Australia next year. Hoffman, the 39-year-old American who won the best actor Academy Award for his startling turn as author Truman Capote in "Capote," will direct the world premiere of a play called "Riflemind," starring British actor Hugo Weaving. The play, to be staged by the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), is written by Andrew Upton, the husband of Australian star Blanchett, who will direct David Harrower's award-winning play "Blackbird," about the awkward aftermath of an underage sexual relationship. "'Riflemind' is an original and I hope this opportunity to collaborate with Andrew and the Sydney Theatre Company will be the beginning of many more to come," Hoffman said in a statement seen here Wednesday. Hollywood-based Blanchett, 37, won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as actress Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's 2004 biopic about the life of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, "The Aviator". STC artistic director Robin Nevin said Hoffman and Blanchett's involvement in the company's productions in 2007 was a major coup. "The company is more and more internationally positioned as the years go by," she said. "These are serious theatre people and they can be easily lured back onto the stage because that is where they have those special experiences." Muzi.com News
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