Cate Blanchett defends Australian theatre role

SYDNEY—Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar nomination for her role as Queen Elizabeth I, gave a regal response Friday to critics of her appointment as artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company.
At a news conference where reporters had been told they could only ask questions about her new film “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” Blanchett was asked how the Virgin Queen would have responded to such criticisms.
“She was a great patron of the arts. I mean that’s a part of what I find absolutely inspiring about Elizabeth. Under her reign, Shakespeare and the English language flourished,” Blanchett said.
“So I can only hope that under our patronage, Australian writing at the Sydney Theatre Company flourishes in a similar way.”
The appointment of Blanchett and her playwright husband Andrew Upton as joint artistic directors of Australia’s most prestigious theatre company from next year has provoked a bitter debate, with one actor quitting the troupe. “An Oscar for acting is not a suitable recommendation to run the biggest theatre company in the country,” said disgruntled actor Colin Moody.
Blanchett’s “Elizabeth” co-star and fellow Australian Geoffrey Rush, who was at the news conference, also had a suggestion on how the long-reigning British monarch would have dealt with the controversy. “Behead him!” he said. —Agencies