Elliot Levey: Tales From a Wise Actor

Published: Dec. 28, 2023, 6 a.m.

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Olivier Award winner Elliot Levey was last at the Almeida for Nine Lessons and Carols, and before that in Three Sisters. Now, he has returned to London's top producing house in Cold War: Conor McPherson's adaptation of Pawel Pawlikowski's Oscar-nominated film. Over the course of his career, Elliot has established himself as one of the most recognised actors in British theatre. As Kaczmarek, he helps set up the story of Cold War, setting out the importance of traditional folk music in post-war Poland. Indeed, music plays a very important role in the story of Cold War and audiences are treated to a luscious score by Elvis Costello in this exciting London premiere.

In this brand new interview, Elliot Levey opens up about his career working with the likes of Rupert Goold and Elvis Costello, but he also talks about working with Mike Bartlett on Snowflake and his experience of working on unsuccessful pieces like Take Flight at the Menier Chocolate Factory. He tells us about his love for telling compelling stories and seeing audiences moved after a performance. With one of the most familiar faces on stage and screen, he remains constantly excited by new collaboration opportunities having worked with directors such as Stephen Frears, Rebecca Frecknall and even Madonna. Naturally a curious thinker, audiences continue to be delighted by his performances and it's likely we'll have more intriguing performances from him to look forward to.

Cold War runs at the Almeida Theatre until Saturday 27th January 2024.

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