Legendary director Sir Nicholas Hytner brings his acclaimed production of Travelling Light to Leeds Grand starring the original National Theatre cast.
The cast is headed by Sir Antony Sher, co-starring with Being Human’s Damien Molony, and this new play by Nicholas Wright is a humorous tribute to Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age.
In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father’s cinematograph. Bankrolled by Jacob, the ebullient local timber merchant and the only villager with any money, and inspired by Anna, the girl sent to help him make moving pictures of their village, he stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling.
Forty years on, Motl – now a famed American film director – looks back on his early life and confronts the cost of fulfilling his dreams.
* Travelling Light is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th March. Tickets are priced from £13 to £30. Book by calling box office on 0844 848 2705 or online at leedsgrandtheatre.com.
*On the evening of Wednesday 21st March there is a post-show Q&A chaired by Yorkshire Post’s Arts Correspondent Nick Ahad.