Shakespeare The Man Who Pays the Rent

Why it caught our eye

Dame Judi Dench talking about Shakespeare is already an excellent premise; Dame Judi Dench talking about Shakespeare with seven decades of backstage stories behind her is even better. In conversation with actor and director Brendan O’Hea, she revisits the great roles, the rehearsal rooms, the mishaps and the magic with intelligence, wit and just enough mischief. It feels less like a formal theatre book and more like being allowed to sit in on a very good conversation.

Details

• By Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
• Paperback
• 400 pages
• Covers Dench’s Shakespearean roles from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra
• Includes stories from rehearsals, performances, audiences and backstage life
• Part memoir, part theatre history, part love letter to Shakespeare