Dame Judi Dench......A Commanding Actress

Dame Judi Dench was born as Judith Olivia Dench in 1934. She is regarded as one of England's most famous and admired actresses.

She had her professional stage debut in 1957 when she played the role of Hamlet's love, Ophelia, in William Shakespeare's famous tragic play Hamlet . Her performance and delivery were so delicate and intelligent that the character came alive for audiences. Her performace was greatly admired by the audience there by  establishing her reputation as a good actoress from the day one.

She was a woman of  fairly small height but still she has been known for her commanding presene onstage and her domineering personality. She has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other major theatres for years on end as most important actoress.
She has also played many major and memorable modern roles during her stage career. She is also knonwn for creating the role of the odd but lovable Sally Bowles. It appeared in the first London production of the musical Cabaret (1968) but Shakespeare has been her all time specialty.

She has also performed a major role in James Bond movies thats why outside Great Britain, people probably know jer best for her role as the stern spy chief 'M' in the James Bond movies.
It was not before 1997 that the film Mrs. Brown brought her world wide international attention. She played Queen Victoria in that film. It proved a lucky chractor for her to bring her to fame internationaly. Then in 1998 she played another queen, Queen Elizabeth I, in the film Shakespeare in Love. For her great performance in this film she won an Academy Award for best supporting actress. She won the same award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) - one of many she was awarded.

The great strength that Dench communicates has marked her acting style. She is well known for giving touchingly personal life to the characters she plays, whether they are grand historical figures or everyday people. Her two popular television series, 'As Time Goes By' and 'A Fine Romance', show off her skill at playing the roles of ordinary women in an amazingly marvelous style.

Judi Dench has always considered the stage her first love. For her remarkable contribution to theatre and films, she was honoured with a knighthood as Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988.

Opera.....

A Grandscale Musical Play

An Opera play being enacted on the stage.

Just like a stage drama, an opera is a story acted out onstage but in an opera the performers do not read out their dialogues rather they sing their lines. An opera is also different from a musical play or drama because opera performers usually don't speak at all. All of their dialougues have to be sung. Their songs  don't happen between conversations, but rather their songs are the conversation. Just like the songs and poetry the music an orchestra plays for an opera is as important to the overall effect of it.

Traditional operas tell a big story in a grand way. The story is usually serious, with a strong and evenly woven plot but there are some comic operas also doing well. Many operas tell tragic tales of lovers who are kept apart or the life stories of great kings or emperors.

Sidney Opera House in Australian Capital Sidney.

Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is one of these. Some operas, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, tell stories of mystery and enchantment. Comic operas, such as Giaocchino Rossetti's The Barber of Seville, often feature silly situations and people trying to provide comic relief to the audience.

In the late 1800s, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan wrote comic operas that made fun of people from various walks of life. One of the most popular of their light operas, or operettas, was The Pirates of Penzance. But today's opera composers continue the dramatic spirit of classic opera, even though their subjects are no longer of the same great intensity or seriousness, rather they have changed greatly.

A special form of opera called Jinxi or Peking Opera developed in China during the mid-19th century.
In this Jingxi or Peking opera performers use larger-than-life or unrealistic movements to portray their character. The rhythmic beating of clappers marks time for movements, and the performance may feature acrobatic fighting scenes.

Classic operas are usually performed in the language they were written in. Today, if the audience doesn't speak the language of the opera, the opera company may show the singers' words in the audience's language on a screen above the stage.