Variety
August 8, 2008

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman directing play
By GORDON COX

The Sydney Theater Company production of "Riflemind," directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, will play the West End's Trafalgar Studios beginning next month.

Written by Andrew Upton -- the scribe and adapter ("Hedda Gabler") who is co-a.d. of STC with wife Cate Blanchett -- "Riflemind" preemed in Sydney in 2007 in a Hoffman-helmed production toplined by Hugo Weaving.

Weaving will not star in the London incarnation, although thesps Susan Prior, Steve Rodgers and Jeremy Sims reprise roles in a cast that will include Brit actors John Hannah and Paul Hilton. Plot follows the reunion of a group of aging rockers who were once members of a Rolling Stones-like band called Riflemind.

Production is the first in a new partnership between Trafalgar Studios, owned by Ambassador Theater Group, and STC, now an associate company of Trafalgar. Two orgs will jointly develop new work with the possibility of international co-productions.

"Riflemind" begins London perfs Sept. 15 ahead of a Sept. 18 opening.