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Bust of Anton Chekhov at Badenweiler, Germany

The Cherry Orchard (Вишнëвый сад or Vishnyovy sad in Russian) is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play.

The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. While presented with options to save the estate, the family essentially does nothing and the play ends with the estate being sold to the son of a former serf, and the family leaving to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down. The story presents themes of cultural futility — both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period.

Since the first production at the Moscow Art Theatre, this play has been translated and adapted into many languages and produced around the world, becoming a classic work of dramatic literature. Some of the major directors of the world have directed this play, each interpreting the work differently. Some of these directors include Charles Laughton, Peter Brook, Andrei Serban, Eva Le Gallienne, Jean-Louis Barrault, Tyrone Guthrie and Giorgio Strehler.

The play's influence has also been widely felt in dramatic works by many including Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw and Arthur Miller.

Characters[link]

The spellings of character names depend on the transliterations used.

Konstantin Stanislavski as Leonid Gayev in a production of The Cherry Orchard at the Moscow Art Theatre, c1922

• Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya - a landowner. Ranyevskaya is the linchpin around which the characters revolve. A commanding and popular figure, she represents the pride of the old aristocracy, now fallen on hard times. Her confused feelings of love for her old home, and sorrow at the scene of her son's death, give her an emotional depth that keeps her from devolving into a mere aristocratic grotesque. Most of her humor comes from her inability to understand financial or business matters.
• Peter Trofimov - a student and Anya's love interest. Trofimov is depicted as the "eternal" (or in some translations "wandering") student. An impassioned left-wing political commentator, he represents the rising tide of reformist political opinion in Russia, which struggled to find its place within the authoritarian Czarist autocracy.
• Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik - a landowner. Another old aristocrat, whose own estate has hit hard times. He is constantly discussing new business ventures that may save him, or badgering Ranyevskaya for a loan. His character embodies the irony of the aristocracy's position: despite his financial peril, he spends the play relaxing and socializing with the Gayevs.
• Anya - Lyubov's daughter, aged 17. She journeys to Paris to rescue her mother from her desperate situation. She is that rare character, a truly virtuous, strong, young female. She is in love with Trofimov, and listens to his revolutionary ideas, whether she is actually taking them in or not.
• Varya - Lyubov's adopted daughter, aged 24. Varya creates one of the mysteries of the play: why did Ranyevskaya adopt her? Is she the illegitimate child of her late husband? Is she the bastard daughter of Gayev? Varya is deeply religious, and very serious, as well as being very controlling towards other characters. She has a troubled relationship with Lopakhin, to whom she is romantically linked, but of whom she disapproves.
• Leonid Andreieveitch Gayev - the brother of Madame Ranevskaya. One of the more obviously comic characters, Gayev is a talkative eccentric. His addiction to billiards (often manifesting itself at times of discomfort) is symbolic of the aristocracy's decadent life of leisure, which renders them impotent in the face of change. Gayev tries hard to save his family and estate, but ultimately, as an aristocrat, lacks the drive.
• Yermolai Alexeievitch Lopakhin - a merchant. Lopakhin is by far the wealthiest character in the play, but comes from the lowest social class. This contrast defines his character: he is enjoying living the high life, but at the same time is uncomfortably conscious of his low beginnings and obsession with business. He is often portrayed as an unpleasant character, because of his greedy tendencies and ultimate betrayal of the Gayev family, but there is nothing in the play to suggest this: he works strenuously to help the Gayevs, but to no avail. Lopakhin represents the new middle class in Russia, one of many threats to the old aristocratic way of doing things.
• Charlotta Ivanovna - a governess. By far the most eccentric character, Charlotta is the only governess the Gayevs could afford to provide a companion for Anya. She is a melancholy figure, raised by a German woman without any real knowledge of who her Circus Entertainer parents were. She performs card tricks and ventriloquism at the party in the third act and accepts the loss of her station, when the family disbands, with pragmatism.
• Yepikhodov - a clerk. The Gayev's estate clerk is also another source of comedy. He is unfortunate and clumsy in the extreme, earning him an insulting nickname of "Twenty-Two Calamities" (This nickname varies according to the translation). He considers himself to be in love with Dunyasha, whom he has asked to marry him.
• Dunyasha - a housemaid. Like Lopakhin, she is another example of the social mobility in Russia at the time. A peasant who is employed as the Gayev's chambermaid, Dunyasha is an attention seeker, making big scenes and dressing as a lady, to show herself off. She is in some respects representative of the aristocracy's impotence, as a lowly chambermaid would not normally have the freedom to dress like a lady and flirt with the manservants. She is in love with Yasha.
• Firs - a manservant, aged 87. An aging eccentric, Firs considers the emancipation of the Russian serfs to be a disaster, and talks nostalgically of the old days, when everybody admired their masters and owners, such as Gayev's parents and grandparents. His madness and harmlessness are a source of much of the play's poignancy, symbolizing the decay of the old order into muttering madness.
• Yasha - a young manservant. The play's only truly unpleasant character, Yasha represents the new, disaffected Russian generation, who dislike the staid old ways, and who provide the foot soldiers of the revolution. A rude, inconsiderate and predatory young man who wears cheap cologne, Yasha, like Dunyasha and Charlotta, is the best the Gayevs can afford. He is in conflict with Yepikhodov for the affections of Dunyasha, whose affections he toys with.
• A Stranger - a passer-by who interrupts and insults the Gayevs as they laze around on the Gayevs' estate during Act II. He is symbolic of the intrusion of new ideologies and social movements that infringed on the aristocracy's peace in Russia at the turn of the 20th century.
• The Stationmaster and The Postmaster - Both officials attend the Gayevs' party in Act III. Although they both play minor roles in the act (the Stationmaster attempts to recite a poem, and the Postmaster flirts with Dunyasha), they are mostly symbols of the deprecation of the aristocracy in 1900s Russia - Firs comments that, whereas once they had barons and lords at the ball, now it's the postman and the stationmaster, and even they come only to be polite.
• Guests, servants, and others.

Background[link]

There were several experiences in Chekhov's own life that are said to have directly inspired his writing of The Cherry Orchard. When Chekhov was sixteen, his mother went into debt after having been cheated by some builders she had hired to construct a small house. A former lodger, Gabriel Selivanov, offered to help her financially, but in turn secretly bought the house for himself. At approximately the same time, his childhood home in Taganrog was sold to pay off its mortgage. These financial and domestic upheavals imprinted themselves on his memory greatly and would reappear in the action of The Cherry Orchard.

Later in his life, living on a country estate outside Moscow, Chekhov developed an interest in gardening and planted his own cherry orchard. After relocating to Yalta due to his poor health, Chekhov was devastated to learn that the buyer of his former estate had cut down most of the orchard. Returning on one trip to his childhood haunts in Taganrog, he was further horrified by the devastating effects of industrial deforestation. It was in those woodlands and the forests of his holidays in Ukraine that he had first nurtured his ecological passion (this passion is reflected in the character of Dr. Astrov, whose love of the forests is his only peace, in his earlier play Uncle Vanya). A lovely and locally famous cherry orchard stood on the farm of family friends where he spent childhood vacations, and in his early short story "Steppe", Chekhov depicts a young boy crossing the Ukraine amidst fields of cherry blossoms. Finally, the first inklings of the genesis for the play that would be his last came in a terse notebook entry of 1897: "cherry orchard". Today, Chekhov's Yalta garden survives alongside The Cherry Orchard as a monument to a man whose feeling for trees equaled his feeling for theatre. Indeed, trees are often unspoken, symbolic heroes and victims of his stories and plays; so much so that Chekhov is often singled out as Europe's first ecological author.

Chekhov wrote The Cherry Orchard during the course of several years, alternating between periods of lighthearted giddiness and despondent frustration which he considered as bordering upon sloth (in a letter he wrote, "Every sentence I write strikes me as good for nothing.") Throughout this time he was also further inhibited by his chronic tuberculosis. Guarded by nature, Chekhov seemed overly secretive about all facets of the work, including even the title. As late as the Summer of 1902 he still had not shared anything about the play with anyone in his immediate family or the Art Theatre. It was only to comfort his wife Olga Knipper, who was recovering from a miscarriage, that he finally let her in on the play's title, whispering it to her despite the fact that the two were alone. Chekhov was apparently delighted with the very sound of the title, and enjoyed the same sense of triumph months later when he finally revealed it to Stanislavski. By October 1903 the play was finished and sent to the Moscow Art Theater. Three weeks later Chekhov arrived at rehearsals in what would be a vain attempt to curb all the "weepiness" from the play which Stanislavski had developed. The author apparently also snickered when, during rehearsals, the word "orchard" was replaced with the more practical "plantation", feeling he had perfectly and symbolically captured the impracticality of an entire way of life.

Although critics at the time were divided in their response to the play, the debut of The Cherry Orchard by the Moscow Art Theater on January 17, 1904 (Chekhov's birthday) was a resounding theatrical success and the play was almost immediately presented in many of the important provincial cities. This success was not confined only to Russia, as the play was soon seen abroad with great acclaim as well. Shortly after the play's debut, Chekhov departed for Germany due to his worsening health, and by July 1904 he would be dead.

Synopsis[link]

Act I[link]

Opens in the early morning hours of a cool day in May in the nursery of Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya's ancestral estate somewhere in the provinces of Russia just after the turn of the 20th Century. Ranevskaya has been away for five years, since the death by drowning of her young son, living in France with her unnamed lover. After news that she had tried to kill herself Ranevskaya's 17-year-old daughter Anya and Anya's governess Charlotta Ivanovna have gone to fetch Ranevskaya to bring her home to Russia. They are also accompanied by Yasha, Ranevskaya's valet who was with her in France. Upon returning the group is met, in addition to Lopakhin and Dunyasha, by Varya, Ranevskaya's adopted daughter and housekeeper who has overseen the estate in her absence; Leonid Andreyevich Gayev, Mme. Ranevskaya's brother; Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik, a neighbor who is constantly asking for loans; Semyon Yepikhodov, a clumsy clerk in the Ranevskaya household; and the aged footman, Firs, who has worked for the Ranevskaya family since before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, and regrets the emancipation as a great loss of societal structure.

Lopakhin has come to remind Ranevskaya and Gayev that their estate, including the cherry orchard, is due to go to auction in August to pay off the family's debts. He offers a plan to save the estate if only they will allow part of it to be developed into summer cottages. However, this will incur the destruction of their famous cherry orchard which is nationally known for its size. While Ranevskaya enjoys the view of the orchard as day breaks, she is surprised by Peter Trofimov, a young student and the former tutor of Ranevskaya's son, Grisha, whose death prompted Ranevskaya to leave Russia five years ago. Ranevskaya is grief-stricken at the reminder of this tragedy, despite Trofimov's insistence on seeing her upon her return (much to the consternation of Varya.)

After Ranevskaya retires for the evening, Anya confesses to Varya that their mother is heavily in debt. They all go to bed with a renewed hope that the estate will be saved and the cherry orchard preserved. Trofimov stares after the departing Anya and mutters "My sunshine, my spring" in adoration.

Act II[link]

Act II takes place outdoors on the family estate nearby to the cherry orchard in mid-summer. The act opens with Yepikhodov and Yasha vying for the affection of Dunyasha, while Charlotta soliloquizes about her life as she cleans a rifle. In Act I it was revealed that Yepikhodov proposed to Dunyasha around Easter time, however she has since become infatuated with the more "cultured" Yasha. Charlotta leaves so that Dunyasha and Yasha might have some time alone, but that too is interrupted when they hear their employer coming. Yasha shoos Dunyasha away so they won't be caught and Ranevskaya, Gayev, and Lopakhin appear, once more discussing the uncertain fate of the cherry orchard. Shortly Anya, Varya, and Trofimov arrive as well. Lopakhin teases Trofimov for his being a perpetual student and Trofimov espouses his philosophy of work and useful purpose to the delight and humour of everyone around. During their conversations, a drunken and disheveled vagrant passes by and begs for money; Ranevskaya thoughtlessly gives him all of her money, despite the protestations of Varya. Shaken by the disturbance, the family departs for dinner, with Lopakhin futilely insisting that the cherry orchard be sold to pay down the debt. Anya stays behind to talk with Trofimov, who disapproves of Varya's constant hawk-like eyes, reassuring Anya that they are "above love". To impress Trofimov and win his affection, Anya vows to leave the past behind her and start a new life. The two depart for the river as Varya calls scoldingly in the background.

Act III[link]

It is the end of August, and the evening of Ranevskaya's party has come. Offstage the musicians play as the family and their guests drink, carouse, and entertain themselves. It is also the day of the auction for the estate and the cherry orchard; Gayev has received a paltry amount of money from his and Ranevskaya's stingy aunt in Yaroslavl, and the family members, despite the general merriment about them, are both anxious and distracted while they wait for word of their fates. Varya worries about paying the musicians and scolds their neighbour Pishchik for drinking, Dunyasha for dancing and Yepikhodov for playing billiards. Charlotta entertains the group by performing several magic tricks. Ranevskaya scolds Trofimov for his constant teasing of Varya, whom he refers to as "Madame Lopakhin". She then urges Varya to marry Lopakhin, but Varya demurs, reminding her that it is Lopakhin's duty to ask for her hand in marriage, not the other way around. She says that if she had money she would move as far away from him as possible. Left alone with Ranevskaya, Trofimov insists that she finally face the truth that the house and the cherry orchard will be sold at auction. Ranevskaya shows him a telegram she has received from Paris and reveals that her former lover is ill again and has begged for her to return to his aid. She also reveals that she is seriously considering joining him, despite his cruel behaviour to her in the past. Trofimov is stunned at this news and the two argue about the nature of love and their respective experiences. Trofimov leaves in a huff but offstage falls down the stairs and is carried in by the others. Ranevskaya laughs and forgives him for his folly and the two quickly reconcile. Anya enters declaring a rumour that the cherry orchard has been sold. Lopakhin arrives with Gayev, both of whom are exhausted from the trip and the day's events. Gayev is distant, virtually catatonic and goes to bed without saying a word of the outcome of the auction. When Ranevskaya asks who bought the estate, Lopakhin reveals that he himself is the purchaser and intends to chop down the orchard with his axe. Ranevskaya, distraught, clings to Anya, who tries to calm her and reassure her that the future will be better now that the cherry orchard has been sold.

Act IV[link]

It is several weeks later, once again in the nursery (as in Act I), only this time the room is being packed and taken apart as the family prepares to leave the estate forever. Trofimov enters in search of his galoshes, and he and Lopakhin exchange opposing world views. Anya enters and reprimands Lopakhin for ordering his workers to begin chopping down the cherry orchard while the family is still in the house. Lopakhin apologizes and rushes out to stop them for the time being in the hopes that he will be somehow reconciled with them. Charlotta enters, lost and in a daze, and insists that the family find her a new position. Ranevskaya tearfully bids her old life goodbye and leaves as the house is shut up forever. In the darkness Firs wanders into the room and discovers that they have left without him and boarded him inside the abandoned house to die. He lies down on the couch and resigns himself to his fate (apparently dying on the spot), as offstage we hear the axes as they cut down the cherry orchard.

Themes[link]

One of the main themes of the play is the effect social change has on people. The emancipation of the serfs on 19 February 1861 by Alexander II allowed former serfs to gain wealth and status while some aristocrats were becoming impoverished, unable to tend their estates without the cheap labor of slavery. The effect of these reforms was still being felt when Chekhov was writing forty years after the mass emancipation.^[1]

Chekhov originally intended the play as a comedy (indeed, the title page of the work refers to it as such), and in letters noted that it is, in places, almost farcical.^[2] When he saw the original Moscow Art Theatre production directed by Constantin Stanislavski, he was horrified to find that the director had moulded the play into a tragedy. Ever since that time, productions have had to struggle with this dual nature of the play (and of Chekhov's works in general).

Ranevskaya's failure to address problems facing her estate and family mean that she eventually loses almost everything and her fate can be seen as a criticism of those people who are unwilling to adapt to the new Russia. Her petulant refusal to accept the truth of her past, in both life and love, is her downfall throughout the play. She ultimately runs between her life in Paris and in Russia (she arrives from Paris at the start of the play and returns there afterwards). She is a woman who lives in an illusion of the past (often reliving memories about her son's death, etc.). The speeches by the student Trofimov, attacking intellectuals were later seen as early manifestations of Bolshevik ideas and his lines were often censored by the Tsarist officials. Cherry trees themselves are often seen as symbols of sadness or regret at the passing away of a certain situation or of the times in general.

The theme of identity, and the subversion of expectations of such, is one that can be seen in The Cherry Orchard; indeed, the cast itself can be divided up into three distinct parts: the Gayev family (Ranevskaya, Gayev, Anya and Varya), family friends (Lopakhin, Pishchik and Trofimov), and the "servant class" (Firs, Yasha, Dunyasha, Charlotta and Yepikhodov), the irony being that some of them clearly act out of place - think of Varya, the adopted daughter of an aristocrat, effectively being a housekeeper; Trofimov, the thinking student, being thrown out of university; Yasha considering himself part of the Parisian cultural élite; and both the Ranevskayas and Pishchik running low on money while Lopakhin, born a peasant, is practically a millionaire.

While the Marxist view of the play is more prevalent, an alternative view is that The Cherry Orchard was Chekhov's tribute to himself. Many of the characters in the play hearken back to his earlier works and are based on people he knew in his own life. It should also be noted that his boyhood house was bought and torn down by a wealthy man that his mother had considered a friend. The breaking guitar string in acts 2 and 4 herald back to his earliest works. Finally the classic "loaded gun" that appears in many of Chekhov's plays appears here, but this is his only play in which a gun is shown but not fired.

Production history[link]

The play opened on January 17, 1904, the playwright's birthday, at the Moscow Art Theatre under the direction of actor-director Constantin Stanislavski. During rehearsals, the entire structure of Act Two was re-written (to include the passer-by and the twang from the string dying away to empathise the audience with the mining disaster of the time). Famously contrary to Chekhov's wishes, Stanislavski's version was, by and large, a tragedy. Chekhov disliked the Stanislavski production intensely, concluding that Stanislavski had "ruined" his play, which was in turn under-rehearsed (the Moscow Arts Theatre only rehearsing it for six months, unlike the common practise to rehearse for 18 months, or even more). In one of many letters on the subject, Chekhov would complain, "Anya, I fear, should not have any sort of tearful tone... Not once does my Ania cry, nowhere do I speak of a tearful tone, in the second act there are tears in their eyes, but the tone is happy, lively. Why did you speak in your telegram about so many tears in my play? Where are they? ... Often you will find the words "through tears," but I am describing only the expression on their faces, not tears. And in the second act there is no graveyard."^[3]

The Cherry Orchard memorabilia at the Chekhov Gymnasium literary museum.

The modest and newly-urbanized audiences attending pre-revolutionary performances at S. V. Panin's People's House in Saint Petersburg reportedly cheered as the cherry orchard was felled onstage.^[4]

The playwright's wife Olga Knipper played Madame Ranevskaya in the original Moscow Art Theatre production, as well as in the 300th production of the play by the theatre in 1943.

A 1925 production at the Oxford Playhouse by J. B. Fagan^[5] and a 1934 production at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London directed by Tyrone Guthrie and translated by Hubert Butler were among the first English-language productions of the play.

A television version featuring Helen Hayes as Ranevskaya, and Susan Strasberg as Anya, directed by Daniel Petrie, was broadcast as part of the Play of the Week television series in 1959.

The Royal Shakespeare Company/BBC TV, black and white, Peggy Ashcroft plays Ranevskaya, Ian Holm plays Trofimov, John Gielgud Gaev, Judi Dench Anya, Dorothy Tutin Varya, production by Michel Saint-Denis, directed by Michael Elliott, 1962,^[6] released on DVD by BBC Worldwide Ltd 2009.

A production starring Irene Worth as Ranevskaya, Raul Julia as Lopakhin, Mary Beth Hurt as Anya and Meryl Streep as Dunyasha, directed by Andrei Şerban and featuring Tony Award-winning costumes and set by Santo Loquasto, opened at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1977.^[7]

A production directed by Peter Hall, translated by Michael Frayn and starring Dorothy Tutin as Ranevskaya, Albert Finney as Lopakhin, Ben Kingsley as Trofimov and Ralph Richardson as Firs, appeared at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1978^[8]to nearly universal acclaim. A minimalist production directed by Peter Gill opened at the Riverside Studios in London also in 1978,^[8] to good reviews.

In 1981, Peter Brook mounted a production in French (La Cérisaie) with an international cast including Brook's wife Natasha Parry as Ranevskaya, Niels Arestrup as Lophakin, and Michael Piccoli as Gayev. The production was remounted at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1988 after tours through Africa and the Middle East.^[9]

Also in 1981, the BBC produced a version for British television by Trevor Griffiths from a translation by Helen Rappaport and directed by Richard Eyre. Instead of her 1962 BBC role as daughter Anya, Judi Dench here played the mother Ranevskaya to Bill Paterson's Lopakhin, Anton Lesser as Trofimov, Frederick Treves as Gaev, Anna Massey as Sharlotta, and a 24-year-old Timothy Spall as Yepikhodov.^[10]

A film version starring Charlotte Rampling as Ranevskaya, Alan Bates as Gayev, Owen Teale as Lophakin, Melanie Lynskey as Dunyasha and Gerard Butler as Yasha, directed by Michael Cacoyannis, appeared in 1999.^[11]

The Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago, Illinois) performed a version that was translated by Associate Artistic Director Curt Columbus and directed by ensemble member Tina Landau. The play premiered on November 4, 2004 and ran until March 5, 2005 at the Upstairs Theatre. Appearing in the performance were Robert Breuler, Francis Guinan, Amy Morton, Yasen Peyankov, Rondi Reed, Anne Adams, Guy Adkins, Chaon Cross, Leonard Kraft, Julian Martinez, Ned Noyes, Elizabeth Rich, Ben Viccellio, and Chris Yonan.^[12]

The Atlantic Theatre Company (New York, New York) in 2005 mounted a new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by Tom Donaghy, where much more of the comedy was present as the playwright had originally intended.^[13]

A new production of the play starring Annette Bening as Ranevskaya and Alfred Molina as Lophakin, translated by Martin Sherman and directed by Sean Mathias opened at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in February 2006.^[14]

The Huntington Theatre Company^[15] at Boston University produced a version in January 2007 using Richard Nelson's translation, directed by Nicholas Martin with Kate Burton as Madame Ranevskaya, Joyce Van Patten as Sharlotta Ivanova, and Dick Latessa as Firs.^[16]

Jonathan Miller directed the play in March-April 2007 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England. The play represents Miller's return to the British stage after nearly a decade away^[17] and stars Joanna Lumley as Ranevskaya.

Libby Appel adapted and directed the play in 2007 for her farewell season as artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, Oregon). The new translation, based on an original literal translation by Allison Horsley, is considered to be "strongly Americanized".^[18]

A version of the play was performed as the opening production on the Chichester Festival Theatre Stage in May-June 2008, with a cast including Dame Diana Rigg, Frank Finlay, Natalie Cassidy, Jemma Redgrave and Maureen Lipman.^[19]

In 2009, a new version of the play by Tom Stoppard was performed as the first production of The Bridge Project, a partnership between North American and UK theatres. The play ran at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Sam Mendes directed the production with a cast including Simon Russell Beale, Sinéad Cusack, Richard Easton, Rebecca Hall and Ethan Hawke.^[20]

A brand new adaptation of the play was produced by the Blackeyed Theatre in spring 2009 as a UK tour, with a cast of four.^[21]

In September 2009, a new adaptation of the play by Stuart Paterson was produced at the Dundee Repertory Theatre with guest director Vladimir Bouchler.

A new translation of the play in Punjabi was performed in September 2009 by the students of Theatre Art Department of Punjabi University, Patiala, India.

A version of the play in Afrikaans was performed in late September 2009 by students of the Department of Drama at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

A new adaption was commissioned by the Brighton Festival and performed by the dreamthinkspeak group.^[22] They renovated the old co-op home-store on the London Road using the whole store as a stage. They renamed it Before I Sleep and said it was inspired by the original play. It received positive reviews from both The Guardian^[23] and The Independent^[24] newspapers. It was funded by Arts Council England, National Lottery and a long list of other Brighton and Hove based businesses.

In April 2010 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh the Scottish playwright John Byrne staged a new version of the play as a Scottish 'social comedy', taking place in 1979 Scotland.^[25]

The Royal National Theatre, London, staged a new version starring Zoë Wanamaker from May to August 2011, reuniting director Howard Davies with writer Andrew Upton,^[26]which was also shown at cinemas internationally through National Theatre Live.^[27]

References[link]

1. ^ A general overview of these themes, among others, can be found in: Jean-Pierre Barricelli, ed., Chekhov’s Great Plays: A Critical Anthology (New York, 1981), Richard Peace, Chekhov: A Study of the Four Major Plays (New Haven, 1983), Donald Rayfield, Understanding Chekhov: A Critical Study of Chekhov’s Prose and Drama (Madison, 1999).
2. ^ Hirst, David L. Tragicomedy: Variations of melodrama: Chekhov and Shaw. London: Routledge, 1984, 83
3. ^ Gregory Stroud, Retrospective Revolution: A History of Time and Memory in Urban Russia, 1903-1923 (Urbana-Champaign, 2006), 63-4.
4. ^ Richard Stites, Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution (New York, 1989), 63.
5. ^ "Oxford Playhouse 70th". Oxfordplayhouse.com. http://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/anniversary/playhouseplayers.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
6. ^ "'The Cherry Orchard', 1962" imdb, accessed November 19, 2011
7. ^ "'The Cherry Orchard' Listing" ibdb, accessed November 18, 2011
8. ^ ^{a b} Miles, Patrick."Appendix"Chekhov on the British stage (1993), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-38467-2, p. 247
9. ^ Gottleib, Vera. The Cambridge companion to Chekhov. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-521-58917-7. 
10. ^ "'The Cherry Orchard', 1981" imdb, accessed November 19, 2011
11. ^ The Cherry Orchard', 1999" imdb, accessed November 19, 2011
12. ^ Phillips, Michael."Steppenwolf's capable production of Chekhov's 'Cherry Orchard' takes flight in brief, discrete moments" Chicago Tribune, November 14, 2005
13. ^ McCarter, Jeremy."Theater Review: 'The Cherry Orchard'" New York Magazine, June 18, 2005
14. ^ Hernandez, Ernio."Annette Bening and Alfred Molina Roam into The Cherry Orchard in L.A" playbill.com, February 2, 2006
15. ^ Huntington Theatre Company
16. ^ Giuliano, Charles."Huntington Theatre's 'The Cherry Orchard' berkshirefinearts.com, January 11, 2007
17. ^ Walker, Lynne."Review, 'The Cherry Orchard'"The Independent, 22 March 2007. (Retrieved 30 March 2007) (#4)
18. ^ Richter, Judy."Oregon Shakespeare Festival: 'The Cherry Orchard'" aislesay.com, accessed November 19, 2011
19. ^ Billington, Michael."Theatre Review, 'The Cherry Orchard'"The Guardian, 25 May 2008
20. ^ Brantley, Ben."Theater Review, 'The Chery Orchard'"The New York Times, January 16, 2009
21. ^ Blackeyed Theatre
22. ^ "Before I Sleep". dreamthinkspeak. http://www.dreamthinkspeak.com/sleep.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
23. ^ Brian Logan (2010-05-17). "Before I Sleep". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/may/07/before-i-sleep-review. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
24. ^ "Before I Sleep, Old Co-op Building, BrightonEurydice, Maria, Young Vic, LondonMacbeth, Globe, London". The Independent. 2010-05-09. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/before-i-sleep-old-coop-building-brightonbreurydice-maria-young-vic-londonbrmacbeth-globe-london-1968908.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
25. ^ Dibdin, Thom."Review, 'The Cherry Orchard' "The Stage, April 19, 2010
26. ^ Wolf, Matt."Chekhov's Villain Gives an Audience Someone to Root For"The New York Times, May 31, 2011
27. ^ "National Theatre Live, 'The Cherry Orchard'" nationaltheatre.org.uk, accessed November 19, 2011

Books[link]

• Chekhov, Anton. The Cherry Orchard, translated by David Magarshack. Modern and Contemporary Drama edited by Miriam Gilbert, Carl H. Klaus and Bradford S. Field, Jr. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 0-312-09077-3
• Chekhov, Anton. The Cherry Orchard, translated by Stephen Mulrine. London: Nick Hern Books, 1998. ISBN 978-1-85459-412-9

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Cherry Orchard

• Full text of The Cherry Orchard (Russian)
• Project Gutenberg eText, English translations of several Chekhov plays, including The Cherry Orchard
• A public domain version of the play (English translation)
• The Cherry Orchard study guide, themes, quotes, teacher resources

v t e Works by Anton Chekhov Biography Bibliography Plays Platonov (1881) On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco (1886, 1902) Swansong (1887) Ivanov (1887) The Bear (1888) A Tragedian in Spite of Himself (1889) The Wedding (1889) The Wood Demon (1889) A Marriage Proposal (1890) The Festivities (1891) The Seagull (1896) Uncle Vanya (1897) Three Sisters (1901) The Cherry Orchard (1904) Novellas The Shooting Party (1884) The Steppe (1888) The Duel (1891) The Story of an Unknown Man (1893) Three Years (1895) My Life (1896) Short stories List of short stories by Anton Chekhov "The Bet" (1889) "The Black Monk" (1894) "The Lady with the Dog" (1899) Related articles Chekhov's gun Osip Dymov Fragments Wild Honey

Cherry Orchard may refer to:

• The Cherry Orchard, a play by Anton Chekhov
• Cherry Orchard F.C., an Irish association football (soccer) club
• Cherry Orchard, Sandwell, an area of Sandwell, West Midlands, England
• Cherry Orchard, Dublin, an area beside Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland

See also[link]

• Orchard (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Dame Judi Dench
Dench at the 2007 BAFTAs.
Born	Judith Olivia Dench (1934-12-09) 9 December 1934 (age 77)[1] York, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Actress, Author[2]
Years active	1957–present
Spouse	Michael Williams (1971–2001; widowed)
Children	Finty Williams
Parents	Reginald Arthur Dench Eleanora Olave Jones

Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress.

Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968.

During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By.

Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in each James Bond film since. She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001).

Dench has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include ten BAFTAs, (including the Bafta Fellowship in 2001) seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute (BFI).^[3]

She was married to actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of actress Finty Williams.

Personal life[link]

Dench was born in Heworth, York, England, the daughter of Eleanora Olave (née Jones), a native of Dublin, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor who met Judi's mother while studying medicine at Trinity College, Dublin.^[4] Dench attended the Mount School, a Quaker independent secondary school in York, and became a Quaker.^[5][6] Her brothers, one of whom is actor Jeffery Dench, were born in Tyldesley, Lancashire.^[5][6] Notable relatives also include her niece, Emma Dench, a Roman historian and professor previously at Birkbeck, University of London, and currently at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[7]

In 1971, Dench married British actor Michael Williams and they had their only child, Tara Cressida Frances Williams, known professionally as Finty Williams, on 24 September 1972.

Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions, and the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, A Fine Romance (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.

Macular degeneration[link]

In early 2012, Dench discussed her macular degeneration, with one eye "dry" and the other "wet", for which she has been treated with injections into the eye. She said that she was needing someone to read scripts to her.^[8]

Career[link]

In Britain, Dench has developed a reputation as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, primarily through her work in theatre, which has been her forte throughout her career. She has more than once been named number one in polls for Britain's best actress.^[9][10]

Early years[link]

Through her parents, Dench had regular contact with the theatre. Her father, a physician, was also the GP for the York theatre, and her mother was its wardrobe mistress.^[11] Actors often stayed in the Dench household. During these years, Judi was involved on a non-professional basis in the first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays in the 1950s. In 1957, in one of the last productions in which she appeared during this period, she played the role of the Virgin Mary, performed on a fixed stage in the Museum Gardens.^[12] Though she initially trained as a set designer, she became interested in drama school as her brother Jeff attended the Central School of Speech and Drama.^[11] She applied and was accepted, where she was a classmate of Vanessa Redgrave, graduating with a first class degree in drama and four acting prizes, one being the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.^[11]

In September 1957, she made her first professional stage appearance with the Old Vic Company, at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, as Ophelia in Hamlet, then her London debut in the same production at the Old Vic. She remained a member of the company for four seasons, 1957–1961, her roles including Katherine in Henry V in 1958 (which was also her New York debut), and as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in October 1960, directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli. During this period, she toured the United States and Canada, and appeared in Yugoslavia and at the Edinburgh Festival.

She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in December 1961 playing Anya in The Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and made her Stratford-upon-Avon debut in April 1962 as Isabella in Measure for Measure. She subsequently spent seasons in repertory both with the Playhouse in Nottingham from January 1963 (including a West African tour as Lady Macbeth for the British Council), and with the Playhouse Company in Oxford from April 1964. That same year, she made her film debut in The Third Secret.

Prominence[link]

In 1968, she was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret. As Sheridan Morley later reported: "At first she thought they were joking. She had never done a musical and she has an unusual croaky voice which sounds as if she has a permanent cold. So frightened was she of singing in public that she auditioned from the wings, leaving the pianists alone on stage".^[13] But when it opened at the Palace Theatre in February 1968, Frank Marcus, reviewing for Plays and Players, commented that: "She sings well. The title song in particular is projected with great feeling."

After a long run in Cabaret, she rejoined the RSC making numerous appearances with the company in Stratford and London for nearly twenty years, winning several best actress awards. Among her roles with the RSC, she was the Duchess in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi in 1971. In the Stratford 1976 season, and then at the Aldwych in 1977, she gave two comedy performances, first in Trevor Nunn's musical staging of The Comedy of Errors as Adriana, then partnered with Donald Sinden as Beatrice and Benedick in John Barton's "British Raj" revival of Much Ado About Nothing. As Bernard Levin wrote in The Sunday Times: "...demonstrating once more that she is a comic actress of consummate skill, perhaps the very best we have."^[14]

One of her most notable achievements with the RSC was her performance as Lady Macbeth in 1976. Nunn's acclaimed production of Macbeth was first staged with a minimalist design at The Other Place theatre in Stratford. Its small round stage focused attention on the psychological dynamics of the characters, and both Ian McKellen in the title role, and Dench, received exceptionally favourable notices. "If this is not great acting I don't know what is", wrote Michael Billington in The Guardian. "It will astonish me if the performance is matched by any in this actress's generation", commented J C Trewin in The Lady. The production transferred to London, opening at the Donmar Warehouse in September 1977, and was adapted for television, later released on VHS and DVD. Dench won the SWET Best Actress Award in 1977.

Dench was nominated for a BAFTA for her role as Hazel Wiles in the 1979 BBC drama On Giant's Shoulders.^[15] In 1989, she was cast as Pru Forrest, the long-time silent wife of Tom Forrest, in the BBC soap opera The Archers on its 10,000th edition.^[16]

She had a romantic role in the BBC television film Langrishe, Go Down (1978), with Jeremy Irons and a screenplay by Harold Pinter from the Aidan Higgins novel, directed by David Jones, in which she played one of three spinster sisters living in a fading Irish mansion in the Waterford countryside.

Dench made her debut as a director in 1988 with the Renaissance Theatre Company's touring season, Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, co-produced with the Birmingham Rep, and ending with a three month repertory programme at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Dench's contribution was a staging of Much Ado About Nothing, set in the Napoleonic era, which starred Kenneth Branagh and Samantha Bond as Benedick and Beatrice.

She has made numerous appearances in the West End including the role of Miss Trant in the 1974 musical version of The Good Companions at Her Majesty's Theatre. In 1981, Dench was due to play the title role of Grizabella in the original production of Cats, but was forced to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon, leaving Elaine Paige to play the role.^[17] She has acted with the National Theatre in London where, in September 1995, she played Desiree Armfeldt in a major revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, for which she won an Olivier Award.

Popular success[link]

In 1995, she took over the role of M (James Bond's boss) with the James Bond film series, starting with GoldenEye replacing Robert Brown. She has appeared in six James Bond films, including Die Another Day (2002),Casino Royale (2006) and its direct sequel Quantum of Solace (2008), making her the longest-running current cast member of the series. She is currently filming her seventh Bond film, Skyfall, to be released in 2012.

She has won multiple awards for performances on the London stage, including a record six Laurence Olivier Awards. She also won the Tony Award for her 1999 Broadway performance in the role of Esme Allen in David Hare's Amy's View. She has taken on the role of Director for a number of stage productions. Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love.

Judi Dench has frequently appeared with her close friend Geoffrey Palmer. They co-starred in the series As Time Goes By, where she played Jean Pargetter, becoming Jean Hardcastle after she married Lionel Hardcastle. The programme spanned nine seasons. They also worked together on the films Mrs. Brown and Tomorrow Never Dies, both filmed in 1997. Dench has also lent her distinctive voice to many animated characters, narrations, and various other voice work. She plays the role of "Miss Lilly" in the children's animated series Angelina Ballerina (alongside her daughter, Finty Williams, as the voice of Angelina) and as Mrs. Calloway in the Disney animated film Home on the Range. She has narrated various classical music recordings (notably Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Britten's Canticles-The Heart of the Matter), and has appeared in numerous BBC Radio broadcasts as well as commercials. Her many television appearances include lead roles in the series A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By. In the United States, As Time Goes By has been repeated on PBS and on BBC America.

Recent years[link]

Dench returned to the West End stage in April 2006 in Hay Fever alongside Peter Bowles, Belinda Lang and Kim Medcalf. She finished off 2006 with the role of Mistress Quickly in the RSC's new musical The Merry Wives, a version of The Merry Wives of Windsor.^[18]

Dench's more recent film career has garnered six Academy Award nominations in nine years for Mrs. Brown in 1997; her Oscar-winning turn as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love in 1998; for Chocolat in 2000; for the lead role of writer Iris Murdoch in Iris in 2001 (with Kate Winslet playing her as a younger woman); for Mrs Henderson Presents (a romanticised history of the Windmill Theatre) in 2005; and for 2006's Notes on a Scandal, a film for which she received critical acclaim, including Golden Globe, Academy Award, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

In 2007, the BBC issued The Judi Dench Collection, DVDs of eight television dramas: Talking to a Stranger quartet (1966), Keep an Eye on Amélie (1973), The Cherry Orchard (1981), Going Gently (1981), Ghosts (with Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Michael Gambon, 1987), Make and Break (with Robert Hardy, 1987), Can You Hear Me Thinking? (co-starring with her husband, Michael Williams, 1990) and Absolute Hell (1991).^[19]

Dench, as Miss Matty Jenkins, co-starred with Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton and Francesca Annis, in the BBC One five-part series Cranford. The series began transmission in the UK in November 2007, and on the BBC's U.S. producing partner station WGBH (PBS Boston) in spring 2008.

Dench became the voice for the narration for the updated Walt Disney World Epcot attraction Spaceship Earth in February 2008.

In February 2008, she was named as the first official patron of the York Youth Mysteries 2008, a project to allow young people to explore the York Mystery Plays through dance, film-making and circus. This culminated on 21 June with a day of city centre performances in York.

She worked on the 22nd Bond adventure Quantum of Solace and reprised her role as M.

She is interested in horse racing and in partnership with her chauffeur Bryan Agar owns a four-year-old horse, "Smokey Oakey", who won the 2008 Brigadier Gerard Stakes.^[20]

She returned to the West End from 13 March – 23 May 2009, playing Madame de Merteuil in Yukio Mishima's Madame De Sade, directed by Michael Grandage as part of the Donmar season at Wyndham's Theatre. A year later, Dench renewed her collaboration with Sir Peter Hall at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames in A Midsummer Night's Dream which opened in February 2010, when she played Titania as Queen Elizabeth I in her later years: Queen of the Forest of Arden. On 31 July 2010, Dame Judi performed Send in the Clowns at a special celebratory promenade concert from the Royal Albert Hall as part of the proms season, in honour of composer Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday, the entire concert in honour of his music.^[21][22]

Public life[link]

Dench was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970^[23] and promoted to Dame Commander of the order in 1988.^[24] She was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2005.^[25] In June 2011, she became a fellow of the British Film Institute (BFI).^[3]

Dench is a patron of the Leaveners, Friends School Saffron Walden and the Archway Theatre, Horley, Surrey. She became president of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London in 2006,^[26] taking over from Sir John Mills, and is also president of the Questors Theatre, Ealing. In May 2006, she became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was also patron of Ovingdean Hall School, a special day and boarding school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Brighton, which closed in 2010,^[27] and Vice President of The Little Foundation.

Dench is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. In 1996, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (D.Univ) from Surrey University^[28] and in 2000–2001 she received an Honorary DLitt from Durham University.^[29] In July 2000, she was awarded a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, where she actively supported their Drama School at the Gateway Theatre on Elm Row.^{[citation needed]} On 24 June 2008, she was honoured by the University of St Andrews, receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) at the university's graduation ceremony.^[30]

Dench has worked with the non-governmental indigenous organisation, Survival International, campaigning in the defence of the tribal people, the Bushmen of Botswana and the Arhuaco of Colombia. She made a small supporting video saying the Bushmen are victims of tyranny, greed and racism.^[31][32]

On 22 July 2010, Dench was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by Nottingham Trent University.^[33]

The Dr. Hadwen Trust announced on 15 January 2011 that Dench had become a patron of the trust joining existing high profile personalities, Joanna Lumley and David Shepherd.^[34]

On 19 March 2012 it was announced that Dench was to become honorary patron of the charity "Everton in the Community", the official charity of Everton F.C. in Everton, Liverpool. It was also revealed that Dench is a supporter of Everton.^[35]

Filmography[link]

She has also lent her likeness and voice for the role of M in James Bond video games:

• Everything or Nothing
• GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
• Quantum of Solace
• GoldenEye 007
• Blood Stone

Theatre work[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (March 2009)

Source: "Judi Dench: With a Crack in her Voice" by John Miller

As an actress[link]

As a director[link]

• 1988 – Much Ado About Nothing, Renaissance Theatre Company
• 1989 – Look Back in Anger – Renaissance Theatre Company
• 1989 – Macbeth – Central School of Speech and Drama
• 1991 – The Boy from Syracuse, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
• 1993 – Romeo and Juliet, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

Discography[link]

• Cabaret (1968), Original London cast album CBS (1973)
• The Good Companions (1974), Original London cast recording (1974)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1995); from Felix Mendelssohn as Recitant. Conducted by Seiji Ozawa
• A Little Night Music (1995) by Stephen Sondheim, Royal National Theatre Cast
• Nine (2009) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Awards and nominations[link]

Theatre[link]

Awards

• 1977: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival – Macbeth
• 1980: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – Juno and the Paycock
• 1980: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival – Juno and the Paycock
• 1982: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
• 1982: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – The Importance of Being Earnest and A Kind of Alaska
• 1984: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play – Pack of Lies
• 1987: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
• 1987: Evening Standard Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
• 1987: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress – Antony and Cleopatra
• 1996: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress – Absolute Hell
• 1996: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Entertainment – A Little Night Music
• 1997: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress – Amy's View
• 1999: Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play – Amy's View
• 2004: Laurence Olivier Award: Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to British Theatre

Television[link]

Awards

• 1967: BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress – Talking to a Stranger^[37]
• 1982: British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – A Fine Romance, Going Gently and The Cherry Orchard
• 1982: Broadcast Press Guild Award for Best Actress – A Fine Romance
• 1985: British Academy Television Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance – A Fine Romance
• 2001: British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
• 2001: Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells

Nominations

• 1979 British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – On Giant's Shoulders
• 1983: British Television Academy Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance – A Fine Romance
• 1984: British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – Saigon: Year of the Cat
• 1984: British Television Academy Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance – A Fine Romance
• 1990: British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – Behaving Badly
• 1998: British Television Academy Award for Best Comedy Performance – As Time Goes By
• 2001: American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
• 2001: Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie^[38] – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
• 2001: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie – The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
• 2008: British Academy Television Award for Best Actress – Cranford
• 2008: Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie – Cranford
• 2008: Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film – Cranford
• 2008: Satellite Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film – Cranford
• 2010: Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie – Return to Cranford

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dench, Judi. And Furthermore. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010. ISBN 978-0-297-85967-3.
• Lavery, Alison (ed.). The Judi Dench Handbook. Emereo, 2010. ISBN 978-1-74244-659-2.
• Miller, John (ed.). Darling Judi: A Celebration of Judi Dench. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004. ISBN 0-297-84791-0.
• Trowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9559830-2-3.
• Herbert, Ian; Christine Baxter and Robert E. Finlay (1981). Who's Who in the Theatre (17th ed.). Detroit: Gale. ISBN 0-273-01717-9. 
• Billington, Michael (1993). One Night Stands: A critic's view of British theatre from 1971–1991. London: Nick Hern Books. ISBN 1-85459-185-1. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Judi Dench

• Judi Dench Biography
• Judi Dench at the Internet Movie Database
• Judi Dench at the Internet Broadway Database
• Judi Dench at AllRovi
• Judi Dench at the Royal Shakespeare Company performance database
• As Time Goes By Central website
• Judi Dench on Acting Regal
• University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
• The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the RSC: Online database
• Dame Judi Dench at Emmys.com