Andrew Upton
Occupation(s)Playwright, screenwriter, director
Spouse
​
(m. 1997)​
Children4

Andrew Upton is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and director. He has adapted the works of Gorky, Chekhov, Ibsen, and others for London's Royal National Theatre and the Sydney Theatre Company. He wrote the original play Riflemind (2007), which premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company to favourable reviews, with Hugo Weaving starring and Philip Seymour Hoffman directing the London production.

Upton and his wife, actor Cate Blanchett, are the co-founders of the film production company, Dirty Films, under which Upton served as a producer for the Australian film Little Fish (2005). Upton and Blanchett became joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 until 2012.

Early life and education

Upton attended The King's School, Parramatta, and University of Sydney.[1][2]

Career

As a playwright, Upton created adaptations of Hedda Gabler, The Cherry Orchard, Cyrano de Bergerac, Don Juan (with Marion Potts), Uncle Vanya, The Maids, Children of the Sun[3][4] and Platonov for the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and Maxim Gorky's The Philistines for the Royal National Theatre in London.[5]

Upton's original play Riflemind opened with Hugo Weaving, playing an ageing rock star planning a comeback, at the Sydney Theatre Company on 5 October 2007, and received a favourable review in Variety (magazine).[6][7][8] The London production of Riflemind, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, opened in 2008,[9] but closed as a result of the financial pressure of the Global Financial Crisis[10][11] after receiving poor popular press reviews.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

In 2008, Upton and wife Cate Blanchett became joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for what became a five-year term.[17][18]

Upton and Blanchett formed a film production company, Dirty Films,[19] whose projects include the films Bangers (1999) and Little Fish (2005).[3][20] Upton wrote, produced and directed the short, Bangers,[3] which starred Blanchett.[21] Upton shares writing credits for the feature film Gone (2007).[22][23]

Upton wrote the libretto to Alan John's opera Through the Looking Glass, which premiered with the Victorian Opera in Melbourne in May 2008.[24][25]

Upton acted in one of Julian Rosenfeldt's thirteen-part art film, Manifesto (2015).[26][22]

Awards and recognition

In June, 2014, Upton was recognised with the Rotary Professional Excellence Award, an award instituted "to honour a person who has demonstrated consistent professional excellence in his or her chosen vocation by contributing to the benefit of the wider community beyond their typical workplace role".[27]

Personal life

Upton and Blanchett met in Australia in the mid-1990s and married on 29 December 1997.[32] The couple have three sons and one daughter,[33][34][35] the latter adopted in 2015.[36][37] The couple's children appeared with Upton in segment 11 of the 2015 film Manifesto.[26]

Upton and Blanchett purchased a house in East Sussex, England, in early 2016.[38]

References

  1. ^ "Playwright Andrew Upton at Sydney University". Getty Images. 11 September 1984. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Playwright Andrew Upton at Sydney University.Eighteen-year-old Andrew..." Getty Images. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "RGM Literary – Andrew Upton". RGM Artist Group. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Sydney Theatre Company Children of the Sun". Sydney Theatre Company. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Australian library collections". Libraries Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
    * "Andrew Upton on adapting Philistines". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  6. ^ "Author Profile – Andrew Upton". Currency Press. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  7. ^ "Sydney Theatre Company and UBS present: Riflemind by Andrew Upton". Sydney Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  8. ^ Boland, Michaela (10 October 2007). "Riflemind". Variety. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  9. ^ Adams, Stephen (8 August 2008). "Philip Seymour Hoffman to direct Australian play Riflemind in London". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  10. ^ Singh, Anita (20 October 2008). "Financial Crisis: West End shows closing". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ^ a b London Theatre Staff (17 October 2008). "Riflemind posts early closing notices for 25 Oct 2008". LondonTheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  12. ^ "Who could have imagined that a play about sex and drugs and rock and roll would prove as punishingly boring as this". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  13. ^ Billington, Michael (19 September 2008). "Riflemind (review)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  14. ^ The Sunday Times Staff (28 September 2008). "Riflemind Misfires". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  15. ^ Taylor, Paul (19 September 2008). "A dull sex, drugs and rock and roll reunion". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  16. ^ "Riflemind gets on reunion bandwagon". London Evening Standard.
  17. ^ "For Andrew Upton, it's words that count". The Australian. 17 August 2012.
    * "Cate Blanchett on why being CEO is a matter of instinct". Business Review Weekly. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Andrew Upton: so much more than the crumpled-looking Mr Cate Blanchett". Australian Financial Review. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. ^ Otterson, Joe (10 July 2020). "Cate Blanchett's Dirty Films Sets First-Look TV Deal at FX". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Cate Blanchett's Dirty Films lands major US TV deal". The West Australian. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  21. ^ "Bangers (1999) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  22. ^ a b "Andrew Upton". IMDb. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Gone". ABC Radio National. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  24. ^ John, Alan (2010). "Through the Looking Glass - Chamber Opera to a libretto by Andrew Upton based on Lewis Carroll's book and the life of Alice Liddell (2008)". hdl:11343/21900.
  25. ^ "Alan John and Andrew Upton". ABC Radio National. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  26. ^ a b Rosenfeldt, Julian (3 December 2021). "Manifesto Scenes / Pop-Art [Part 11 of 13 channel film installation]". JulianRosefeldt.com. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  27. ^ "News: Professional Excellence Award". STC June eNews. Sydney Theatre Company. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  28. ^ Lennan, Jo (24 February 2012). "Cate Blanchett, theatre boss". The Economist. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  29. ^ Lahr, John (5 February 2007). "The Evolution of Cate Blanchett". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  30. ^ Jones, Alice (19 August 2008). "Andrew Upton: Life in the shadow of his wife". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  31. ^ Jacobs, Laura (March 1999). "Cate Blanchett's Pale Fire". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  32. ^ [28][29][30][31]
  33. ^ "Cat Blanchett and Dashiell hop to it". People. 4 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  34. ^ "Cate Blanchett gives birth to a son". People. 26 April 2004. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  35. ^ "Cate Blanchett welcomes third son, Ignatius Martin". People. 13 April 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  36. ^ "Cate Blanchett Has Adopted a Baby Girl". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  37. ^ Rothman, Michael (6 March 2015). "Cate Blanchett and Husband Andrew Upton Adopt a Baby Girl". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  38. ^ Spangaro, Alexandra (18 January 2016). "Cate Blanchett purchases $6 million English manor 'Highwell House'". Domain Group. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.

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