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Dame Judi Dench to return home to York for I Remember It Well in conversation with Gyles Brandreth at Grand Opera House

The poster for Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth’s night of stories, sonnets and surprises at the Grand Opera House, York, on October 10

DAME Judi Dench is heading home to York for one night only in a special performance at the Grand Opera House on October 10.

Stage, film and television actress Dame Judi, 89, will be joined on stage at 7.30pm by television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author, publisher and former Conservative MP for the City of Chester Gyles Brandreth.

Together they will present their sell-out West End and Royal Albert Hall show, I Remember It Well with Judi Dench & Gyles Brandreth. Tickets go on general sale at 10am on August 2 at atgtickets.com/york, preceded by ATG+ members 24 hours earlier.

Dame Judi joins her friend Gyles on a roller-coaster trip down memory lane as they explore the story of her extraordinary life, from her childhood in Heworth, York, in the 1930s to her latest Oscar nomination – for Best Supporting actress in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast – in  2022. Expect moments from Shakespeare and anecdotes aplenty – stories, sonnets and surprises – in a “two-hour party of lifetime”.

Educated at The Mount School, and later briefly at the York School of Art, Dame Judi played a “forgetful angel” in the 1951 York Mystery Plays, staged by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in the York Museum Gardens in the first revival since their suppression in 1569.

This was followed by her roles as a “young man in white clothing” in the 1954 production and the Virgin Mary in 1957, after completing her studies at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. That year she made her professional theatrical debut as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Old Vic, London.

Her stage and screen career has taken in the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre; the television series A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By; the role of M in the James Bond franchise from 1995’s GoldenEye to M’s death in 2012’s Skyfall, and an Oscar win, among eight nominations from 1997 to 2022, for Best Supporting Actress in Shakespeare In Love in 1998.

Six film BAFTAs, three television BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, two Screen Actors’ Guild awards, seven Oliviers, one Tony award and three Evening Standard Theatre awards have come her way too.

Here in York, Dame Judi received receive the honour of Millennium Person of the Present award at York Mansion House in 2000, was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of York in 2002 and has had a riverside walkway, Dame Judi Dench Walk, named after her.

On the theatre front, although Dami Judi will be appearing at the Grand Opera House this autumn, she is a patron of York Theatre Royal.

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NCEM director Delma Tomlin nominated for Freeman of City of York status…following in the footsteps of Dame Judi Dench

Delma Tomlin: National Centre for Early Music director

DR DELMA Tomlin MBE, founder and director of the National Centre for Early Music, has been nominated to receive the status of Honorary Freeman of the City of York. 

The decision will be made next Thursday (17/12/2020) at a special full council meeting of City of York Council, which “may lawfully appoint a person or persons who have, in its opinion, rendered eminent services to the city as outlined in Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972”.

The meeting will consider nominations for awarding the title to both Delma, as busy as ever this week hosting the York Early Music Christmas Festival at the NCEM, and York historian Alison Sinclair. 

The last time this status was awarded was in 2014 to Lord Crathorne and, if the status is awarded next week, Delma and Alison will be following in the footsteps of the only women honoured since 2002: actor and national treasure Dame Judi Dench and Quaker, peace campaigner and long-serving head teacher of The Mount School, Joyce Pickard, who died in September 2017.

Delma’s nomination comes in recognition of her commitment to arts and culture in York over the past 40 years. She helped to secure significant funding to establish the National Centre for Early Music to deliver early music, world music, folk and jazz in the converted St Margaret’s Church building in Walmgate.

The NCEM stages the summer York Early Music Festival and its winter marrow, the York Early Music Christmas Festival, this year running a series of socially distanced concerts from December 4 to 12, complemented by the inaugural York Christmas At Home festival, streamed online from December 11 to 13. In addition, beyond York, she programmes the annual Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival.

The NCEM is recognised internationally for its promotion of Early music, also hosting the NCEM Young Composers Award and running a vibrant education and outreach programme, working with the communities of York throughout the year.   

“I have had so much fun with all the projects I’ve been involved in and, in this rather miserable year, it’s wonderful to be offered something so joyful,” says Honorary Freeman of the City of York nominee Delma Tomlin

In 2000, Delma was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York in recognition of her work in the City of York. In 2008, she was appointed an MBE for services to the arts in Yorkshire in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

In 2018, she was made Cultural Ambassador for the City of York and was named Cultural Champion at that year’s York Culture Awards. In 2022, she will become the first female Governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers.

Reacting to today’s nomination, Delma said: “As someone who has lived in York for 40 years, I couldn’t be more pleased or imagine more of an honour. The city has given me such opportunities, and the people have always been extraordinarily welcoming.

“I have had so much fun with all the projects I’ve been involved in and, in this rather miserable year, it’s wonderful to be offered something so joyful.” 

Councillor Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council, said: “Given their eminent services to our city, I am delighted to support the award of Honorary Freedom of the City of York to both Delma Tomlin and Alison Sinclair.

“York has a rich history of freemen, with records dating back to 1272, making it an honour of great historical importance rarely awarded. It has been fascinating to read the nominations for Delma and Alison and learn more about the outstanding work they have done for both the city and its residents, in particular in the fields of heritage, culture and music.

“If the nominations are approved at the council meeting, a subsequent Civic occasion would then take place later next year to recognise and formally celebrate the honour.”