From February 2027, the Shaftesbury Theatre will be the Judi Dench Theatre. Image: Shaftesbury Theatre/Robert Wilson
The Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End is to be renamed after one of stage and screen's greatest living actors, Dame Judi Dench.
From February 2027, the theatre — the largest independent theatre in the West End — will become the Judi Dench Theatre, named for the actor renowned for her versatility, starring in everything from Shakespeare plays to Bond films to sitcoms.
Why the rebrand? Dench was a founding member of the Theatre of Comedy, a collective of actors and authors headed by playwright Ray Cooney, who regularly performed at the Shaftesbury Theatre in shows including Run for your Wife, Two into One and Kiss of the Spiderwoman. The Theatre of Comedy helped ensure the continuance of the theatre throughout the 1980s and 1990s (in the 1970s it had even faced potential demolition). TV executive Don Taffner then joined the Theatre of Comedy in 1986, taking the helm from the early 1990s.
Dench's role as Jean in the long-running BBC sitcom As Time Goes By cemented her links to the Taffner family, whose company produced the show, and now owns the theatre as DLT Entertainment.
