In the ongoing Cumberbatch Wars, I’ve been accused of many things. Being too pro-Benedict Cumberbatch and too anti-Batch. I’ve been accused of sexism towards Sophie Hunter and accused of treating her too kindly. Meh to all of that. My opinion of Benedict and Sophie changes as we find out more about both of them. At this point, I kind of think this marriage has been built on a pretty shaky foundation, but I’m trying to give Benedict and Sophie some time and space to figure everything out. Which is difficult, because Benedict seems incapable of going undercover for longer than a week and because he’s still going to be in our faces for years to come, with all of his various projects in the theater, TV and film. That doesn’t make him a bad guy, but it does make me wonder if he’s even going to be around for Sophie and the Cumberbaby.

But why even care? Sophie is relaunching her career too. Immediately following Benedict and Sophie’s engagement announcement last fall, Sophie’s CV got fluffed up a bit so she sounded like the poshest, most educated intellectual EVER, and a perfect fit for her Cumberlover. I said at the time that Sophie seemed a bit pretentious and “fart-sniffy” and guess what? She totally is. Anyway, Sophie is now “established” in the media as a legitimate theater director, so of course she got a new gig directing Phaedra at the Beckett Festival, which takes place on two weekends over the summer.

Theatre director Sophie Hunter – who married Benedict Cumberbatch on Valentine’s Day – is to direct a Greek tragedy at the The Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, Happy Days. It’s the fourth year of the festival, which celebrates the work of writer Samuel Beckett and those who influenced him, held in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

Hunter will take on composer Benjamin Britten’s Phaedra, his final work, inside the ruined Necarne Castle.

“At the heart of it is the story of a woman who has taken in poison and is dying over 15 minutes,” Hunter told the BBC. “The music mimics the effect of the poison that is coursing through her veins.”

Hunter added that she hopes to provide an “intimate experience in an epic space”.

[From Radio Times]

This will take place between July 23 and August 3. I’m assuming she’ll give birth in the next few weeks, probably right around Duchess Kate’s delivery. So Sophie will have a few months with the Cumberbaby, then she’ll have to stage and rehearse this play. And it falls during Benedict’s Hamlet run too! He’ll be in London doing Hamlet and she’ll be in Northern Ireland. Sounds about right.

Here are some more photos of Benedict at the Laureus World Sports Awards yesterday.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.