Dame Judi Dench has West End theatre named in her honour
A West End theatre is to be renamed after acclaimed York-born actress Dame Judi Dench.
In February next year the largest independent theatre in London’s theatre district, the Shaftesbury, will be renamed the Judi Dench Theatre.
Dame Judi’s long theatre career, spanning some seven decades, has seen her win eight Olivier Awards.
The 91-year-old actress said: “The Shaftesbury Theatre has always held a special place in my heart. My relationship to the Theatre of Comedy and to the Taffner family goes back many years and to have this beautiful theatre renamed after me is truly overwhelming.
“Live theatre continues to be so important as a way of telling stories and entertaining audiences, something I have aimed to do all my working life.”
The theatre is owned by DLT Entertainment, with chairman Donald Taffner Jnr adding: “Dame Judi has been a close friend of the DLT family for so long, particularly from her involvement with As Time Goes By, and we will always treasure the time she made in her busy schedule to make the programme.
“We have such fond memories of Judi at the Shaftesbury from the meetings for the Theatre of Comedy members to when her husband was performing in a number of the Theatre of Comedy productions.
“Aside from business, my parents would often talk about how much they enjoyed spending time with Judi and Michael (Williams, her late husband) in both NY and London. We are therefore delighted to recognise her extraordinary talent and extensive contribution to many in the renaming of our theatre.”
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a grade II listed building. Built in 1911, it was originally named New Prince’s Theatre but was renamed Shaftesbury Theatre in 1962 due to the original Shaftesbury Theatre (further along Shaftesbury Avenue) being destroyed in the Blitz.