Judi Dench on you ... It drives me absolutely spare when people say, 'Are you going to retire? Isn't it time you put your feet up?' Or tell me [my] age." In 2013, she spoke about her personal religious faith. Dench, a Quaker, said, "I think it informs everything I do ... I couldn't be without it." Dench was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1970 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1988 New Year Honours. She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of
Sean Mathias joined by Kathleen Turner, Eileen Atkins, Roger Rees and Cynthia Nixon. It earned nine Tony Award nominations including Best Director of a Play. Mathias directed his first Stephen Sondheim musical, "A Little Night Music", at the West End National Theatre in October 1995, with Judi Dench and Siân Phillips. Other London directorial credits include "Antony and Cleopatra", starring Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren, in 1998, and Tennessee Williams' "Suddenly Last Summer" with Sheila Gish in April to July 1999 at the Comedy Theatre. Mathias' career then moved to New York, where, in October 2001, he directed McKellen and Helen Mirren