On Sunday 13th October, the Almeida Theatre welcomed an audience to a special event, ‘Doctor Theatre’. The evening featured a line-up of some of the world’s greatest actors, Peter Capaldi, Judi Dench, Lindsay Duncan, Stephen Fry, Ian McKellen, Simon Russell Beale and Imelda Staunton. During the course of the evening each actor took to the stage to interview or to be interviewed by one another. They discussed life on stage, on screen and in the real world. It was at times hilariously funny and, in other moments, deeply moving. In a special moment, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen spoke to each other as old friends, almost as if the audience were not there. The final conversation was with Judi Dench and David Nott. For the audience, simply to witness their connection and mutual admiration was wonderful.

The evening was filled with ‘peek behind the curtain’ moments; anecdotes of life on stage, the secrets of making blockbuster hits, and of course some personal revelations. The actors also brought some prized mementos to auction at the end of the evening, including a prop from the “Harry Potter” films (from Imelda Staunton), a personally illustrated “Doctor Who” script (from Peter Capaldi), a prosthetic heart the Foundation uses to teach surgeons lifesaving skills, and a painting by done by Judi Dench herself. The auction was conducted brilliantly by the evening’s emcee, Stephen Fry, who played a major role in making the sum raised on the auction alone £19,500.

In addition to this once in a lifetime line-up of actors providing the audience with a thoroughly entertaining and moving evening, the event generated an incredible £61,000 for our work. We are indebted to the Almeida Theatre, the supporters who attended and to the Theatre Friends of the David Nott Foundation who organised the event. We would like to say a special thanks to Joyce Nettles, without whom the evening would not have been possible. Her tireless dedication to the Foundation, not just this year but in years gone by, is truly remarkable. On behalf of the 2077 doctors we’ve trained worldwide since 2015, thank you.

Should you wish to watch the event, we will soon have a recording available to view for a small donation. Please watch this space or contact [email protected] for more information.

 

 If you’d like to contribute to the total, donate by Dec 31