Mike Leigh's London hit Two Thousand Years, which was recently nominated for an Evening Standard Award, will embark on a national tour of the UK before playing a return engagement at the Lyttelton Theatre from March 25th through April 8th.
The show, which is currently playing at The National Theatre Cotteslow through January 31st, 2006, will change venues due to the Lyttleton's being a larger theatre. Before returning to London, the play will come to Bath on February 7th, and then The Lowry in Salford, Theatre Royal Newcastle, Warwick
Arts Center, Malvern Theatres and Cambridge Arts Theatre.Written and directed by Leigh, and featuring John Burgess, Ben Caplan, Allan Corduner,
Simon Schatzberger, Caroline Gruber, Nitzan Sharron, Tracy-Ann Oberman
and Alexis Zegerman, Two Thousand Years"concerns the lives and relationships of three generations in a
contemporary London Jewish middle-class family. It explores a wide
range of issues, including politics, religion, identity and the
question of Israel and the Middle East," according to press notes. The show, upon opening, received generally positive reviews and has proved to be a commercial hit.
An
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director as well as playwright, Leigh
is known for an unflinching social realism in his work. His plays
include Abigail's Party, Smelling a Rat, Goose-pimples and Ecstasy, while Vera Drake, All or Nothing, Topsy Turvy and Secrets and Lies are some of his films.
