Judi Dench Goes By". The Dame was sparkly and downright ravishing." As with most of the original cast, Dench reprised the role of Evelyn in John Madden's "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (2015), the sequel to the 2011 sleeper hit. The comedy-drama was released to lukewarm reviews from critics, who found it "as original as its title – but with a cast this talented and effortlessly charming, that hardly matters". From April to May 2015, Dench played a mother, with her real-life daughter Finty Williams playing her character's daughter, in "The Vote" at the Donmar Warehouse. The final performance was broadcast
Judi Dench attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. She applied and was accepted by the School, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London, where she was a classmate of Vanessa Redgrave, graduating and being awarded four acting prizes, including the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student. In September 1957, she made her first professional stage appearance with the Old Vic Company, at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, as Ophelia in "Hamlet". According to the reviewer for "London Evening Standard", Dench had "talent which will be shown to better advantage when she acquires some technique to go with it." Dench then