NT Live filming: Travelling Light 9 February 2012

a new play by Nicholas Wright

This performance will be broadcast live. There will be several cameras in the auditorium and views of the stage may be blocked at any time during the performance. Please note:

* This is a studio performance.
* The light and sound will be adjusted for broadcast.
* There will be 360degree filming – resulting in audience members being filmed.
* No latecomers will be admitted.

Details of the cinema screenings are available on the National Theatre Live website.

Following the performance of Travelling Light there will be a live Q&A, hosted by Emma Freud with a panel including director, Nicholas Hytner, writer Nicholas Wright and Jason Solomons. If you would like to ewatch, simply stay in your seats after the performance. The Q&A will last approximately 20 minutes.

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 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.

How had a twenty-two-year–old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come?

Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Nicholas Wright’s new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age. The award-winning Antony Sher – whose previous work with the National Theatre includes Primo and Stanley – returns to play Jacob.

I know it was in the picture. I made the picture and now the cow’s getting paid and I’m not!

National Theatre Live

Travelling Light will be broadcast to cinemas across the UK and around the world on 9 February 2012 as part of National Theatre Live. Find your nearest cinema and book .

Audio-Described performances Fri 2 Mar at 7.30pm, Sat 3 Mar at 2.15pm (Touch Tour at 12.45pm)
Captioned performance Wed 29 Feb at 7.30pm

On Tour

13 – 17 March
The Lowry, Salford
20 – 24 March
Grand Theatre, Leeds
27 – 31 March
Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury
3 – 7 April
Theatre Royal, Newcastle