Dame Judi Dench In Conversation, Hosted By Gyles Brandreth, Will Be Available To Stream Online To Support The Orange Tree Theatre

Filmed live at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2017, an exclusive 90-minute in conversation with Dame Judi Dench will be available online from 3pm on Sunday 26 April. This is a paid video on demand and all monies raised will go to the Orange Tree Theatre's Survival Fund, following its closure due to the impact of the Coronavirus.

Packed full of entertaining, funny and touching stories from Dame Judi's incredible career, viewers can experience the unique intimacy of the Orange Tree, recreating a very special event in the comfort of their own home.

OT Artistic Director Paul Miller said: "This film records one of my happiest days ever: the day Judi came to the Orange Tree. It's 90 minutes of enormous fun and fascinating insights, in the company of a national treasure with few, if any, rivals for our collective affection. We hear about John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft; Clint Eastwood and Johnny Depp; about Ken Branagh, Peter Hall and how to speak Shakespeare. The crucial importance of company spirit runs through it all like a golden thread. And what company she is: this is a treat to savour in your home, while we wait to welcome you back to ours one day."

Audiences watching will pay £4.99 to watch on demand via orangetreetheatre.co.uk

As of 16 March 2020, the Orange Tree Theatre has closed its doors due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

As an independent producing theatre and registered charity, closure has serious implications, having lost 74% of its income.

To secure the OT's return to producing outstanding theatrical experiences in its unique, up-close space, the theatre has launched a Survival Fund. Find out more at orangetreetheatre.co.uk/support-us

Other OT On Screen broadcasts include their co-production of Amsterdam which is available for free on the Orange Tree's YouTube channel.

Dame Judi Dench took to the Orange Tree stage for the first time in 2017 for the OT's inaugural Under the Orange Tree: a series of talks with our most distinguished actors about people they've worked with, admired and learned from.

A celebration of British theatre's history and its especially collaborative nature, Under the Orange Tree offers an unrivalled opportunity to see great artists talk up-close in the Orange Tree's unique in the round space, in conversation with OT Ambassador Gyles Brandreth. Subsequent Under the Orange Tree guests have been Michael Billington, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Maggie Smith, David Suchet, Dame June Whitfield and Dame Penelope Wilton.

Judi Dench made her first professional stage appearance with the Old Vic Company as Ophelia in Hamlet in 1957. During her extensive career on stage and screen she has won 10 BAFTAs, 7 Oliviers, 2 Golden Globes, a Tony and an Academy Award. Her theatre credits include The Winter's Tale (Kenneth Branagh Company), Peter and Alice (West End), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Hay Fever, The Breath of Life (Haymarket Theatre), Merry Wives of Windsor, All's Well That Ends Well (RSC), Amy's View (National Theatre and Broadway) and A Little Night Music (National Theatre). For television, her credits include All Is True, Red Joan, Murder on the Orient Express, Victoria & Abdul, Tulip Fever, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Hollow Crown: Richard III, Esio Trot, Cranford, As Time Goes By and Last of the Blonde Bombshells; and for film, Philomena, Skyfall, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, J.Edgar, My Week With Marilyn, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Jane Eyre, The Quantum of Solace, Notes on a Scandal, Casino Royale, Mrs Henderson Presents, Pride and Prejudice, Iris, Chocolat, Shakespeare in Love (Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress) and Mrs Brown.

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, former MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, now Chancellor of the University of Chester. A veteran of QI and Have I Got News For You, a reporter on The One Show, a regular on Just a Minute, his many books include The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries and the No 1 best-seller: The 7 Secrets of Happiness.