Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh Make Broadway Debuts in The Present

Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, and the cast of Andrew Upton's The Present celebrated their Broadway debuts as the drama opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theater on January 8. Directed by John Crowley, the work is presented by Australia's Sydney Theatre Company, where it had its world premiere in 2015.

Inspired by Anton Chekhov's Platonov, Upton's adaptation is set in the mid-1990s in an old country house where friends gather to celebrate the birthday of Anna Petrovna (Blanchett), an independent but compromised widow. At the center is the acerbic and witty Platonov (Roxburgh), along with his wife, his former students, and their friends and partners. Boiling away inside their comfortable appearances is a mess of unfinished, unresolved relationships, fueled by 20 years of denial, regret, and thwarted desire.

Joining Blanchett and Roxburgh in the cast are members of the original Australian company, Anna Bamford (Maria), Andrew Buchanan (Osip), David Downer (Yegor), Eamon Farren (Kirrill), Martin Jacobs (Alexei), Brandon McClelland (Dimitri), Jacqueline McKenzie (Sophia), Marshall Napier (Ivan), Susan Prior (Sasha), Chris Ryan (Sergei), and Toby Schmitz (Nikolai). Everyone in the cast makes their Broadway debuts.

The production features scenic and costume design by Alice Babidge, lighting design by Nick Schlieper, and sound design and musical compositions by Stefan Gregory.

For tickets and more information, click here.