4000 Miles

What, exactly, is the excellent young actor Timothée Chalamet doing next? He's on stage in London for his theatreland debut playing a starring role along with actress Eileen Atkins in Amy Herzog's Pulitzer Prize-nominated dramatic comedy, 4000 Miles. 4000 Miles is a popular play by Amy Herzog, the American playwright. What's the story? When the rudderless 21 year old Leo Joseph-Connell suffers a major emotional trauma while on a disastrous cross-country bike ride, he feels lost. He seeks help from his feisty communist grandma, Vera Joseph, who lives in West Village. The longer he stays, the more the themes of family, distance, age, death, and politics emerge, and the more solace they manage to give each other.

Apparently the playwright used her grandmother's 'words, habits and history' to create the character of Vera Joseph. She's quite something, and the interplay with her grandson is extraordinarily sensitive and funny. 2012 saw the play win an Obie Award for Best New American Play. Time Magazine called it their number one Play or Musical for the year. It has been staged across the USA numerous times and had its Australian premiere in 2013, winning two Sydney Theatre Award nominations. A national tour of Australia finished in 2016. Now it's on its way to the West End and tickets are, apparently, going to sell like nobody's business. Get in there while you can!