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 and Children of the Sun for the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and Maxim Gorky's The Philistines for London's Royal National Theatre.

His original play Riflemind, with Hugo Weaving as an ageing rock star planning a comeback tour, opened at the STC on 5 October 2007 to favourable reviews. Riflemind opened in London in 2008, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman but closed after a short run due to uniformly poor notices and the pressure of the Global Financial Crisis. In 2008, Upton and wife Cate Blanchett became joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for what became a five-year term.

Upton and Blanchett formed a film production company, Dirty Films, whose projects include the short film Bangers (1999) and the feature film Little Fish (2006). Upton wrote, produced, and directed Bangers, which starred Blanchett. He was the associate producer on Little Fish, which also starred Blanchett. In 2006, he wrote the film Gone which was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. Upton wrote the libretto to Alan John's opera Through the Looking Glass which premiered in May 2008.

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".

Personal life

Upton and Blanchett met in 1996 on the set of a TV show, and were married on 29 December 1997. They have four children: biological sons Dashiell John (born 3 December 2001), Roman Robert (born 23 April 2004), Ignatius Martin (born 13 April 2008), and adopted daughter Edith Vivian Patricia, whose adoption was confirmed on 6 March 2015. They live in Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]