What an enchanting and unique book! A pleasure from start to finish as the wonderful Judi Dench shares with Brendan O'Hea her detailed memories of her career and her long love affair with Shakespeare’s plays and the theatre more generally. Her sharp wit and deep insights about the human condition and her own very full life make this a book to treasure and to pick up and feed on again and again.

I would like to thank St Martin's Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I would also like to thank Sara Beth Haring for bringing this little gem to my attention. This book is a narrative of the Shakespearean Plays that Dame Judi Dench has appeared in throughout her career. It is written as a two handed discussion between her and actor/director/friend Brendan O'Hea. It is a series of intimate, unabridged , delightful conversations, on plays, acting, critics ,life and Shakespeare.I am a fan of Dame Judi Dench, but I confess I was not aware of all her time spent in Shakespeares plays. The title is something she and her late actor husband , Micheal Williams, used to say when they started another Shakespearean play-since they did so many for a time, he became-"the man who pays the rent". Her stories, musings and insights are all in this vein, personal, unvarnished and fairly light hearted, even when discussing plays and roles she disliked. I am familiar with a lot of the plays, but I feel like I need to go back and read a few that I am not as familiar with( A Winters Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor, for 2), and then comeback and reread those parts.However, all in all, it was a delightful book and I am very glad I read it.

With dialogue written by Brendan O’Hea, Dame Judi Dench tells us about every one of her Shakespear roles. As well as the entertaining, behind the scenes stories.


As Dench herself says, 'Shakespeare is an international language, a beacon for humanity, and a bridge across cultures. Everything you have felt or are yet to feel is all in there in his plays.'


What a wonderful, entertaining book! Who isn’t a bit in awe of Dame Judi and all that she has achieved?


A pleasure, indeed.

I really like the movies and series that Judi Dench is in. I found it very interesting to read about her acting career on stage. She obviously likes Shakespeare and stage work. What is amazing is that she can still remember word for word her lines. I did learn more about some of the plays through her explanations of the plot.

Very enjoyable and highly recommended. I will definitely listen to the audiobook. Full of interesting facts, stories and tidbits of a life well lived. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

A set of delightful, informal interviews with Judi Dench by her colleague, covering the many roles she's played in Shakespeare's plays. Interspersed with short inteviews on related sunjects, this book is a treat.

I was looking forward to this one, expecting a fun, gossipy walk down memory lane with Judi Dench, full of stories about hijinx backstage and amusing flubs onstage. Well, there was that, but mostly, this was a masterclass in acting and in Shakespeare. It's done in the form of an interview and discussion with Brendan O'Hea, Judi's friend and fellow Shakespearean actor and director, asking the questions. I had not realized how many substantial roles for women there are in Shakespeare, and of course, Judi Dench has performed most of them at least once. It's obvious that she thought a lot about the characters over the years, and especially while rehearsing and performing, about what makes them tick. She uses examples of her own performances as well as those of actors she has worked with over the years. She has even taken a stab at directing. Even if, like me, you've only seen a handful of Shakespeare plays, you can get a lot out of Judi Dench's analysis and even look forward to getting deeper into the characters and stories, as she does. There are more things in heaven and earth and in this book, than I dreamt of. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.

This is the story of a married couple who teach and write but she is more famous and published than he. He travels to France on a fellowship to try to get inspiration to write, but finds only that he prefers drinking. He returns and continues to let drink cloud his thoughts while his wife gains inspiration to write about his spiraling.

This book was so charming and full of wonderful information. I am not the biggest Shakespeare fan, but that honestly doesn’t matter. The conversations between Judi Dench and Brendan O’ hea were always fascinating and I loved the career retrospective. I was happy to see small chapters about the theatre in general as well as the costumes and sets. If you are a fan of Judi Dench, Shakespeare, or just theatre in general, you need this book.

I adored this autobiographical.deacruption of Judi Dench and her roles in various Shakespeare plays. Learned a lot about both the Bard and Dench. The afterward was perfect.

I went into this knowing that Judi Dench was generally amazing, but I come out of it knowing concretely how she is amazing. She has an amazing recall, quoting the lines of others in plays she hasn't been in since the 1960s? Yeah she can do that. Teaching us about the plot, motivation, and characters of the play better than any prof I've had before? Yeah she can also do that.

She is hilarious, and loves to poke fun at her dear friends including Brendan O'Hea who is guiding the discussion herein. One of my favorite bits is about the role of Portia in the Merchant of Venice:

<i>"[Brendan O'Hea:] Jude, you’re being so badly behaved. You talk about handing on the baton to the next generation – there’ll be somebody out there wanting to play this part.

[Judi Dench:] Well, good luck to them. Don’t expect me to be in the audience." </i>

She is also incredibly sentimental and so very human. Two of the most endearing/humanizing things she shares are that she is afraid of death (me too Judes) and every time she loves a friend or loved one she plants a tree, and she remembers for whom each tree is planted:

<i>"John Stride was sensational. He was everything that you imagine Romeo should be. And more. He had a very young, rounded, cherubic face. I’m looking at his tree right now in the garden. I always plant a tree for lost friends. There it is – it’s thriving. And Alec McCowen is over there, by the steps."</i>

These conversations were recorded and will be archived (along with the illustrations that she has drawn), which I think is wonderful because her understanding for the plays and characters brings new depth to Shakespeare for me personally, and should do for others. But the book is also a lovely way to approach the oral history. All in all really lovely experience, and something I can see myself gifting to a loved one who loves literature and/or Judi Dench.

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent was an interesting and entertaining read that combined Judi Dench's recollections of her performances over the years with a critique of some of the main female roles in Shakespeare's plays. There are lots of references to famous UK stage stars and directors, so the book may lack something if you are not already familiar with them all, but it contained some pleasing discussion and was a fun performance-based memoir. I am giving it four stars.

This magnificent book gives great insight into actress Dame Judi Dench, one of my all time favorites, as she is interviewed about the Shakespearean roles she has played over the years. We learn not only about her, but also about the many plays themselves. In fact, I gained more insight into the Bard's work by reading this than by attending any class on his plays. A highly recommended gem!

As I headed into the final days of my holiday season, I was all prepared to wind down my 2023 reading season with some lighter, more festive reading.

However, when you receive an invitation to enter the literary world of both Dame Judi Dench and William Shakespeare?

You take it. The end result is what will unquestionably be one of 2024's most unique and satisfying reading experiences for this planned April 2024 release.

"Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent" finds the now 89-year-old actress remarkably open and insightful as she sits down in a series of intimate conversations with actor and director Brendan O'Hea to invite us into a journey about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her acclaimed and award-winning seven-decade career - from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra and countless others. "Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent" is a remarkable experience as Dench discusses with stunning clarity and insight her early days, her triumphs, her disasters, her collaborators, her backstage shenanigans, the secrets of her rehearsal process, and a wealth of thoughts and experiences on working time and again with "the man who pays the rent" whether that be on stage, on television, in film, or even on the radio.

Amidst it all, we also gain insight into the remarkable Dench from personal storytelling to vignettes on audiences, critics, rehearsal room etiquette, her interpretations of some of Shakespeare's most famous scenes, and so much more.

I was enchanted from beginning to end.

While "Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent" didn't offer me my planned light reading, it offered me so much more from Dench's bright and lively personality, radical candor, and incredible sense of humor and obvious comfort with O'Hea and this incredibly satisfying dialogue.

For fans of Shakespeare, there's no question this is an absolute must.

For Dench fans, there's no question this is an absolute must-read experience.

It's ultimately a love letter to Shakespeare from an actress widely considered one of Britain's true greats. It seems appropriate that Dench received an Academy Award for, yes, a Shakespearean role (Queen Elizabeth I in "Shakespeare in Love"). Dench has also received five Best Actress Oscar nominations, three Best Supporting Actress nominations, six British Academy Film awards, four British Academy Television awards, two Golden Globe awards, two Screen Actors Guild awards, a Tony award, and seven Laurence Olivier awards.

Mark your calendars. "Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent" is definitely one for the must-read list in 2024.

Loved, loved this book. I’ve taught for over 40 years but found so much insightful and valuable depth into the plays that I wish I was back in the classroom to share it. The book shares the background and insights of Dench’s performances of Shakespeare’s female figures. She also gives background into directors, co-stars, language and staging. Dench is funny, forthright, and helpful in letting the reader/audience in on all she knows of her Shakespeare experience.

I liked this book because I like Shakespeare. I have studied Shakespeare at length...I have taught Shakespeare...it is intriguing to read this book (Judi Dench) and to learn more about how The Bard has been a huge part of the lives of celebrities...written well...nonfiction that reads like fiction at times...a page turner. Would have used this book when teaching. Thanks Netgalley.

This is my book of the year. It is such a brilliant read I found myself laughing and crying throughout. The format is flawless - Brendan asks questions and Judi answers them - at length. Her answers are illuminating. I found myself understanding some plays for the first time and her breadth of knowledge is astonishing. This book is a treat for anyone who enjoys the theatre and an absolute gift for anyone teaching any of the plays. It is pure entertainment.

Have you ever sat down for a chat with a good friend and looked up only to realize hours have gone by? You laugh, you find insight and you feel a bit nostalgic? That is what this book is like.

Cracking open the pages I wasn't sure what to expect. A series of interviews with Dame Judi Dench conducted by Brandon O'Hea about the Shakespearean roles that Dench has played over the years? Will it be dry? Too esoteric? Well, it was neither of those things.

Reading this book feels like having a conversation with Judi Dench, if you knew Judi Dench. Her voice sounds in your head as you read. You burst out laughing at some of the audience responses to the plays and you learn wonderful tidbits about Dench's life all the while talking about Shakespeare, "the man who pays the rent" as she and her husband quipped while being essentially always on stage through out the 1970s while performing with The Royal Shakespeare Company.

Dench talks about life, love and death through the lens of the plays that she clearly has great affection for. And dare I say she makes Shakespeare's work very accessible by talking about the characters in terms of human emotion, motivation and all of our very common emotions; jealousy, rage, joy and love. There is nothing sappy about this book, with a sharp wit and often raunchy attitude toward our human emotion Dench delivers again.