Travelling Light

Travelling Light imagines the birth of silent film in a remote Eastern European village at the turn of the century. Motl Mendl, who’s entranced by the flickering silent images on his father’s cinematograph, makes this small Jewish community his camera’s focus. 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. 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, and stars Tony and Olivier award winner, Antony Sher.