Tony and Olivier Winner Antony Sher Returns to London's National Theatre in Two Leading Roles

Tony and Olivier award winner Antony Sher will star in two plays in upcoming seasons at  London’s National Theatre. First, he will lead the cast of Travelling Light, a new play by Nicholas Wright, opening at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre in January 2012. In January 2013 he will return to the National, this time to the Olivier Theatre, to play the title role in The Captain Of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer. No additional casting has yet been announced for either production.

Travelling Light is a tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age. Sher will play Jacob, an ebullient timber-merchant whose encouragement of a young man’s enthusiasm for cinematography leads to success far beyond their remote village. The production will also tour to Salford, Leeds, Newcastle and Aylesbury. Nicholas Hytner will direct.

Carl Zuckmayer’s great satirical fable, The Captain Of Köpenick, is based on the true story of an impoverished ex-convict, Wilhelm Voigt, who—by donning the garb of a Prussian military officer—was able to assume command of the town and raid its treasury, trusting to the power of the uniform to maintain the deception. It was last produced by the National Theatre at the Old Vic in 1971, with Paul Scofield in the title role.

Sher, who will soon appear in the West End revival of Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, received Tony and Olivier Awards for his performance in Stanley, as well as an Olivier Award for Torch Song Trilogy. He appeared in the West End production of Kean and in Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Tempest, Othello and Richard III. He has written and starred in a number of his own shows, including Primo, which played both in London and on Broadway.