Dame Judi Dench to make stage debut with her daughter

Dame Judi Dench is to appear on stage with her actress daughter for the first time, as she plays a voter in a unique election night play.

Dame Judi will star alongside Finty Williams as mother and daughter in The Vote, a Donmar Warehouse production to be broadcast live on television on More4.

It will see the cast, which includes Timothy West, Catherine Tate and Mark Gatiss, streamed live into British homes for the final 90 minutes before the polls close.

The play, which runs for two weeks on stage before the live broadcast, is intended to challenge viewers about the importance of having a political voice and, as a live broadcast of a play in real time, is the first project of its kind.

Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar, hailed "some of the nation's greatest actors" for accepting a role, which she hopes will "push the boundaries of how theatre speaks to audiences in brave, new and popular language about the times we live in".

Saying it was the first time Dame Judi had appeared at the theatre since 1976, she added: "To have her at the heart of this incredible company of actors makes this great event a total joy."

The veteran actress is to play a voter attending the polling station in the final moments before it closes, with Williams appearing as her on-screen daughter.

The play is the work of James Graham, whose recent work includes This House, set in the dying days of James Callaghan's Labour government, and Channel 4's Coalition, which examined the negotiations involved in the creation of the current government.

The play will be broadcast on More4, the Channel 4 sister station, from 8:30 pm on May 7.

(China Daily 04/04/2015 page10)