Cate Blanchett is set to make her National Theatre debut in a new play by Martin Crimp, returning to the UK stage for the first time in seven years. Also starring English actor Stephen Dillane, the production is to be directed by Katie Mitchell.

Cate Blanchett in Sydney Theatre Company’s Gross und Klein. Photo © Tristram Kenton

“It’s great to be working with Martin again on this powerful new text and to continue my special collaboration with Stephen Dillane,” said Mitchell. “At the same time I’m delighted to welcome Cate Blanchett to the National, and look forward to developing a new working relationship with this extraordinary actor.”

Crimp’s new play is called When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other – Twelve Variations on Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. Crimp uses Richardson’s novel, which depicts a complex relationship between a maid and her employer, as a provocation, where five characters enact a dangerous game of sexual domination and resistance.

Blanchett appeared in Crimp’s translation of Strauss’ Gross und Klein for Sydney Theatre Company in 2011.

Crimp’s When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other opens in January 2019.