| PRESS RELEASE
06 February 2012
The National Theatre’s latest production TRAVELLING LIGHT will be on screen at Saffron Screen on Saturday 11 February at 7.20pm. This new play by Nicholas Wright (Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter), starring award-winning Antony Sher and directed by Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys), is a funny and heart-warming tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age of cinema.
This play couldn’t be better timed with The Artist’s awards-season smash success. Like current films The Artist, Hugo and A Monster in Paris, TRAVELLING LIGHT is another love letter to early moviemaking.
The broadcast will also include a live post-show Q&A with director Nicholas Hytner and leading figures from the world of film.
Silent films (new, but impressively vintage-looking) are projected on set as part of the production and bring that love of cinema to the forefront of the show.
The star attraction is Antony Sher as the overbearing producer, playing alongside relative newcomer Damien Molony in an energetic double performance as Motl and a Hollywood actor.
If you love cinema, you will enjoy this heartfelt production about its early origins and the people behind its success. The Guardian and The Times have given TRAVELLING LIGHT four star reviews saying:
The Guardian: 4 Stars A love letter to the movies and an appealingly intelligent evocation of the Jewish folk culture that formed the basis of American cinema.... Nicholas Hytner’s immensely skilful production.... Sher's performance is also the magnetic centre of a play.
The Times: 4 Stars Enchanting. A golden-hearted tragicomic fable.... Antony Sher explodes irresistibly into unwonted vigour and warmth.
The Telegraph: A theatrical valentine to the movies.
Theatrical events like this often sell-out in advance. TRAVELLING LIGHT will be recorded live from the National Theatre on Thursday 9 February when the cinema is unavailable due to an event at the County High School and shown on Saturday 11 February. However, special events such as opera, ballet and theatre are mostly streamed live via satellite from the respective venues around the world to Saffron Screen. This allows the cinema audience to enjoy the top quality cultural events locally, at a reasonable price and as they are being performed.
Tickets for TRAVELLING LIGHT: Adults £15, Adult Conc £13, 18 & under £8
Tickets and listings for all films are available online at www.saffronscreen.com, from the Tourist Information Centre in Saffron Walden, or at the Box Office. You can also sign up to receive the latest Special Events information by emailing: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and including ‘special events’ in the subject line.
www.saffronscreen.com
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For further information please contact: Amanda Lightstone, Marketing and Development Manager, Saffron Screen, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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TRAVELLING LIGHT is set in a shtetl in Eastern Europe where a young man, Motl Mendl, finds his dead father’s Lumiere Brothers Cinematographe and starts filming (and screening) moving pictures around the village. We follow as Motl experiences cinema as a completely new art form: there are many laughs as he figures out filming, editing, and suffers through nitpicky test screenings, casting couches and creative differences. We also meet Motl as an older man, in 1930's Hollywood where he’s a mogul rechristened Maurice Montgomery. The play highlights how Jewish heritage made its stamp on the early days of Hollywood.