The good thing about the West End’s large stock of relatively blandly named theatres is that there’s always something to rename after our greatest stage legends. Following in the recent footsteps of the Harold Pinter Theatre (née the Comedy Theatre) and the Sondheim Theatre (née the Queen’s Theatre), here comes an honour for out of our greatest stage and screen actors: the Shaftesbury Theatre is to be renamed the Judi Dench Theatre.
It’s not just an arbitrary naming, either. The Shaftesbury – formerly the Prince’s – is the largest independent theatre in the West End, and is owned by the Taffner family, whose company produced Dench’s much-loved sitcom As Time Goes By, which ran with great success throughout the ’90s.
Moreover, while we don’t believe Dame Judi has acted on its stage, she did personally help to save the theatre in the ’80s. She was part of a collective called The Theatre of Comedy who bought the Shaftesbury and saved it until the Taffners could take over a decade later.
Mostly, though, the 91-year-old living legend Dench is simply eminently deserving to join the select few actors that have a theatre named after them, and while she has effectively retired from stage work bar the odd Q&A, she seems to be in good health and spirits. And what’s cooler than having a building named after you?
Quoth the lady herself: ‘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 Shaftesbury Theatre will formally change name to the Judi Dench Theatre in February 2027.
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Read our 2015 stage interview with Judi Dench.
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