Judi Dench News

Today we are all more alert to dangers (real and imaginary) and to abuses of surveillance. But what if "suspicious activity" is seen in neighbors who are close friends? Who do you "Say Something" to? And if the authorities asked you to help spy on those friends secretly, how would you feel?

This November the Royal Shakespeare Company launches two new free public exhibitions, open from 10am daily at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

TWELFTH NIGHT and RICHARD III, starring the Tony-winning, incomparable Mark Rylance, have adopted a creative leniency with the characters' gender - though Shakespeare's staple to command his characters to don the garb of a member of the opposite sex, for reasons interwoven in love and lust, greed and vengeance, is a common thread running throughout his romantic repertoire.

From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from The Mysteries to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road - join us for a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on our stages over the past five decades and directed by Nicholas Hytner.

Amphibian Stage Productions (Kathleen Culebro, Artistic Director) today announced an additional offering in its National Theatre Live screening series for 2013, presented in association with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (Marla Price, Director). In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for unique evenings of unforgettable performances broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world.

The 50th anniversary celebration 'LIVE FROM THE NATIONAL THEATRE: 50 YEARS ON STAGE,' directed by Nicholas Hytner, will be broadcast by National Theatre Live to cinemas internationally today, November 2, 2013 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road, this will be a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on their stages over the past five decades.

National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage is an anniversary celebration that features the best British actors for a night of unforgettable performances broadcast Live in HD to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, November 30, at 6:30 p.m. Appearing in this once-in-a-lifetime event, directed by the National Theatre's current Director Nicholas Hytner, will be award-winning actors Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith and many more. Special guest is Richard Pilbrow (pictured), Ridgefield resident and founder of Theatre Projects Consultants, who will be on stage (in person) to speak about National Theatre's 50th anniversary and about The Ridgefield Playhouse, which he helped renovate. Pilbrow was voted one of the 50 most powerful people in the entertainment technology industry. For tickets ($25 adults, $20 seniors/members, $15 students, $18 each for all 10 in the series), call the box office at (203) 438-5795, or order online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. -- Photos courtesy of National Theatre Live

According to Deadline, Fox Searchlight is going after Richard Gere for its planned sequel to the 2011 hit THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.

Singular Sensations continues its autumn run at the Charing Cross Theatre as the multi-talented Janie Dee joins Edward Seckerson on Remembrance Sunday, Sunday 10th November at 3pm to talk about her glittering career.

Life's pretty damn amazing when you get whisked off to New York on a romantic holiday. So, imagine my surprise, when I'm on said holiday and I get an email from my agent telling me I had been asked to participate in NT50.

The longlist for the annual Evening Standard Theatre Awards has been announced, and includes Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, James McAvoy and Dominic West.

Classic musical comedy GUYS & DOLLS, international hit WAR HORSE, Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA and a legendary Judi Dench-led production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC top a poll of the finest productions presented in the last half-century by the vaunted National Theatre in London's West End.

Today, October 22, 2013, marks the official 50th anniversary of the National Theatre of Great Britain. The National Theatre first opened its doors in 1963 at the Old Vic, under Laurence Olivier. 800 productions later, they are marking their half-century with a short season celebrating the remarkable people and plays that have made the NT one of the most cherished and creative of great British institutions.

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents a once-in-a-lifetime performance, broadcast to cinemas around the world. Screening at Riverside Theatres on Saturday, 7 and Sunday 8 December, National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage will be a thrilling evening of live theatre.

Today we are talking to a three-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress who has made a major mark on the West End with her peerless string of richly varied performances - ranging from premiere UK productions of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and PASSION to LADY IN THE DARK, RAGTIME and THE WOMAN IN WHITE, as well as her various solo engagements, who now also excels as a director of theatre and opera, as well - the gifted Maria Friedman. Discussing all aspects of the recent West End production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's anomalous musical experiment MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG - cited by the master himself as the best production of the show to date - and now the fantastic Fathom film presentation of it arriving in movie theaters nationwide (and around the world) on October 23. Detailing the finer points of the reverse-chronological tale of show business ambition and its effects on friendships and relationships, Friedman paints a vivid portrait of her process in bringing the emotionally bracing and musically thrilling stage show to the big screen byway of this passionately played, dramatically captivating and incredibly detailed film preservation. Additionally, Friedman also sheds some light on participating in the Haymarket Theatre production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG herself as an actress nearly twenty years ago and the effect, if any, that experience has had on her perception of the dense and fiercely idiosyncratic musical now, as a director of the piece. Plus, Friedman also touches upon some of her most celebrated roles to date in other Sondheim shows as well as abundantly imparts her deeply held appreciation and affection for his work and personal friendship in her own life, citing his elemental influence on MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG as well as her career in general. All of that and much, much more awaits!