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February 17, 2012
Lensic Presents NT Live Travelling Light by director Nicholas Hytner, 2/17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2012

Contact: Emily Crawford
Tel: 505.988.7050 ext. 1211
Email: ecrawford@lensic.org

LENSIC PRESENTS
National Theatre Live

TRAVELLING LIGHT

A new play by Nicholas Wright
Starring Antony Sher
Directed by Nicholas Hytner

February 17 at 7 pM

Santa Fe, NM – The Lensic presents, as part of the National Theatre Live (NT Live) series, Nicholas Wright’s new play, Travelling Light, directed by Nicholas Hytner on February 17. Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, 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 returns to the National to play “Jacob.”

How was it that a twenty–two–year–old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come? 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. Bank-rolled by Jacob (Sher), 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.

Click here to watch the cast and creative team discuss the show: http://www.youtube.com/nationaltheatre#p/u/1/EKHuz4JxzOA

For the first time on a NT broadcast, the National Theatre will be hosting a live Q&A, directly following the performance, hosted by Emma Freud with director Nicholas Hytner and invited guests. The Q&A will discuss themes explored in the play and the history and emergence of film. Audiences can submit questions in advance by posting them on FACEBOOK or through Twitter @ntlive. The Q&A will run for 30 minutes; the total running time of the full program is three hours.

On March 9, the third season of NT Live continues with Shakespeare’s furiously paced The Comedy of Errors, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring the hugely popular and “wonderfully funny” (The Independent) comedian and actor Lenny Henry making his NT debut. The Comedy of Errors “is a crowd-pleasing show that brings festive, risqué cheer to the National” (Evening Standard).

On March 30, NT Live concludes the season with one of the great, generous-hearted comedies of the English language, She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. Hardcastle, a man of substance, looks forward to acquainting his daughter with his old pal’s son with a view to marriage. But thanks to playboy Lumpkin, he’s mistaken by his prospective son-in-law Marlow for an innkeeper, his daughter for the local barmaid. The good news is, while Marlow can barely speak to a woman of quality he’s a charmer with those of a different stamp. And so, as Hardcastle’s indignation intensifies, Miss Hardcastle’s appreciation for her misguided suitor soars. Misdemeanors multiply, love blossoms, mayhem ensues. The cast is led by Steve Pemberton (Hardcastle), Sophie Thompson (Mrs. Hardcastle), Katherine Kelly (Miss Hardcastle) and Harry Hadden-Paton (Young Marlow).

Event Details:

Lensic Presents National Theatre Live (NT Live):

February 17 Travelling Light by Nicholas Wright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHuz4JxzOA&feature=youtu.be

March 9 Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTdOPatLW6U&feature=youtu.be

March 30 She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sdl7q4qAbE&feature=youtu.be

Times: All screenings are at 7 pm.

Tickets: $22 / $15 Lensic members & students. Tickets are available at www.lensic.org, www.TicketsSantaFe.org; 988.1234 or at The Lensic, 211 W. San Francisco St.

Press Contact: Emily Crawford, Director of PR & Marketing, at 505.988.7050 ext. 1211 or ecrawford@lensic.org.

About The Lensic Performing Arts Center
The nonprofit, historic Lensic Performing Arts Center presents more than 200 events year-round, including theater, music, dance, spoken word, film and lectures. Through Lensic Presents, Performance Arts Education and Community Sponsorships, The Lensic is a major partner and supporter of Santa Fe’s nonprofits, artistic organizations and schools. For more information on the many presentations and programs of The Lensic, visit www.lensic.org.

About NT Live
NT Live performances are filmed live at the National Theatre in high definition and broadcast via satellite to over 330 cinemas and performing arts centers around the world, live in Europe and some US cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield. The pilot season of NT Live began with the hugely successful broadcast of Phèdre with Helen Mirren, which was seen by 50,000 people in 19 countries around the globe.

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