Current head Robyn Nevin recently announced she would be stepping down from the post at the end of 2007, after a stay of eight-and-a-half years.

Blanchett — who recently starred in Hedda Gabler at New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music — is known worldwide for her film work in "Elizabeth," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Veronica Guerin," "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and her Academy Award-winning turn in "The Aviator." She currently stars in "Babel" and will appear in the upcoming films "The Good German" and the Patrick Marber-penned "Notes on a Scandal." A Sydney Theatre Company veteran, she has appeared in Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances and David Mamet's Oleanna at the venue.

Upton provided the translation for the Hedda Gabler that his wife starred in at Sydney and in New York. He has also adapted Edmond Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac and (with Marion Potts) Molière's Don Juan for the company. His original work includes The Hanging Man, Death and Taxes and Gatt The Fax. He has also penned the screenplays for "Bangers," "Blue Eyes," "Foucault's Pendulum," "Gone" and is currently at work on "Duplicate Keys."

The duo will direct the upcoming STC double-bill of Harold Pinter's A Kind of Alaska (Blanchett in her directorial debut) and David Mamet's Reunion (Upton) starting Nov. 25 for a run through Jan. 14, 2007. For more information, visit sydneytheatre.com.au.

Upton and Blanchett will begin at STC from the end of 2007. The couple confirmed they would continue to act and write with the company, saying in a release "As a team we come to the role as joint artistic directors first and foremost as an actress and a playwright. Both of us are passionate about the theatrical artform in all its mad variety."