Acting greats to put on fundraising show to help arts sector workers

Dame Ju d i Dench is joining forces with some of the biggest names in British theatre for a oneoff Zoom performance to raise money for people in the arts struggling through the pandemic.

She said that Sir Ian Mc Ke l l e n , Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Mag gie Smith and Sir Kenneth Branagh would be taking part.

“We can’t appear on the stage and we can’t be in a studio... but we can be on this extraordinary thing called Zoom,” the former Bond movie star told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

But she said that none of the cast will be told much about what they will be doing in advance, describing it as “an actor’s nightmare”.

“We’re all going to be together and it’s for a very good cause called Acting for Others,” she said.

“It does go to the people who are all self-employed and don’t necessarily act

but work in the theatre and keep the theatres going,” she said.

Discussing whether the gove rnmen t ’s £250 million emergency funding for arts venues, museums and cultural organisations would save the sector, she said: “We naturally want more but then so does everybody.”

She told the BBC1 show: “(The arts) bring a huge revenue to the country and peop le during

lockdown have turned to watching television and old films and new films... and that’s partly why Acting for Others is important.”

She said of young people coming out of drama school: “We need to help them and we need to encourage them and we need to keep a kind of flame going.”

Information on this coming Sunday’s event is at rtflockdown.com/

Dame Judi Dench said the arts play a vital role.