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Dame Judi Dench's attack could strangle theatre talent, says director
13.10.09
Dame Judi Dench has clashed with a star theatre director over her view that today's new generation of actors are obsessed with films rather than the stage.
Critical: Dame Judi Dench has caused a debate
The Oscar-winning actress rarely criticises fellow performers. But she said that too many young actors ignore what can be learned from theatre veterans, in favour of pursuing Hollywood dreams.
Acclaimed: Rupert Goold said the views of Dame Judi Dench would make it harder for young actors who already have to limit ideas
She told an audience at the Cheltenham literature festival: “We have such a huge history of the most extraordinary performances and productions... but it is forgotten by most young people coming up.”
Britain's most sought-after stage director Rupert Goold, 39, hit back at Dame Judi's comments, rounding on staid, middle-aged audiences and critics. Goold, known for his bold production of Oliver!, said her views threatened to “strangle” innovation.
He said young actors and directors were already forced to limit their ideas because “most of the audience is middle-aged, the critics are middle-aged” and it feels like “you are seeking to
win the approval of your parents all the time”.
Goold won the Olivier Award for Best Director last year when he pushed boundaries with a production of Macbeth with Patrick Stewart that drew on the horror film genre. He is now getting rave reviews for his production of Lucy Prebble's credit-crunch play Enron at the Royal Court.
He insisted that modern actors were in many ways more professional and spent less time getting drunk than previous generations.
He said: “They are less deferential in a good way than I gather was the case 40 years ago.” They are also in physically better shape and more technically proficient than previous generations, he added.
Dame Judi, 74, said that when she was younger she had watched older actors to improve her performance.
She claimed that unlike today's new actors: “I never used to go to my dressing room. We used to always stand in the wings and watch other people.Probably the majority of young actors want to make a big impression in television or film straight away.
“I wish that young people now — and it's not very fashionable — learnt a bit about our fantastic heritage of theatre and the people who have
gone before, because it's phenomenal. It is nowhere better in the world than here.”
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Reader views (2)
Theatre in England is much different that the stage in the USA. In the US people clammer for musicals, not Shakespeare unfortunately. We are very illiterate when it comes to the legitimate Theatre. In the US, it's not what is on Broadway, it's who is on Broadway. And, no one can afford the price of a ticket!!!!
- Kate, Toledo, USA
I hate to tell Rupert this but at the age of 39 he is himself middle aged.
Judi Dench is right. And wrong. There are plenty of young actors in the theatre today but we don't hear about them because they're on stage not tv so they're not famous.
And there are plenty of young actors who go straight into movies. Who wouldn't want the money? Lots of Hollywood stars from the golden days never did theatre. What's the problem. Russell Crowe is rubbish on stage by all accounts.
- Kate, London
