Book of the Week
Anyone who saw last year’s clip of Judi Dench reciting a sonnet on The Graham Norton Show will know all about her remarkable memory for Shakespeare. “The man who pays the rent” is how she and her late husband Michael Williams described the Bard when they worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company throughout the 1970s; since then, Dench has played practically every major female Shakespeare role going, among them Cleopatra, Titania, Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Ophelia and Hamlet’s mother, Gertude.
 This book is a love letter to 67 years of acting on the stage
‘Wonderfully inspiring. A delightful spell in the company of one of our greatest actresses’ Daily Mail, Books of the Year
‘Gloriously entertaining. Reading it feels like a chat with an old friend’ Observer
‘A magical love letter to Shakespeare’ Kenneth Branagh
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For the very first time, Judi Dench opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played in her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra.
Here, she reveals her behind the scenes secrets; inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour and striking honesty.
Praise for The Man Who Pays the Rent
'This book is pure enchantment’ Daily Mail
'This is a gloriously entertaining tour through the canon in the company of perhaps the most experienced living Shakespearean actor' Observer
'An utterly delightful book. An unstoppable stream of anecdotes, recollections and asides' Telegraph
‘Companionable and compelling, mischievous and convivial – it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with Judi Dench’ Guardian
Find it here.
Our subject line is taken from The Tempest
Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service
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