September 16, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/050916-1637.asp Dame Judi Dench supports university project REED one of U of T’s most renowned humanities projects
Sep 16/05
by Michah Rynor Oscar winning actor Dame Judi Dench has endorsed one of U of T’s most renowned humanities projects, the Records of Early English Drama (REED). REED’s mission is to provide the scholarly world with uniform, accurate and complete editions of all surviving evidence of drama, secular music and community celebrations in Great Britain before 1642. The project is situated at Victoria College at the University of Toronto. Scholars consider it a monument to scholarship in the humanities, as evidenced by comments from professors such as Northern Illinois University’s William Proctor Williams, who called it “one of the remaining miracles of humanistic scholarship.” Dench is equally effusive. “Like the Records of Early English Drama project, my respect for theatre history took root with the York plays,” Dench wrote. “When they were revived in the 1950s, my mother was wardrobe mistress and a crowd ‘extra’; my York physician father played Annas the High Priest and Abraham; and I progressed from angel to resurrection angel to the Virgin Mary. “Since then my appreciation for the documents behind the performance has only increased. What’s past indeed is prologue -- Henslowe’s Diary to Shakespeare in Love, Queen of Heaven to Queen of England. Supporting REED research until these revels are ended and the last volumes published is a goal which can only enrich our theatre heritage.” Professor Alexandra Johnston, director and one of the founders of the REED project, is delighted by Dench’s support. “No other star of the British stage has such extensive knowledge of early English drama,” Johnston said. “Her interest in theatre history and her personal generosity are well known. REED is honoured that she has endorsed the project.” REED commissions highly qualified scholars as volume editors. They conduct exhaustive archival research in the United Kingdom by sifting through wills, diaries, letters and household accounts as well as records of churches, towns and civil and ecclesiastical courts. Afterward, the researchers transcribe references to dramatic and musical performances creating a detailed and comprehensive historical chronicle. So far, more than two dozen volumes have been published by the U of T Press; some volumes are published in conjunction with the British Library. The project is supported in part by the Canadian, British and American governments, generous friends such as Father Edward Jackman and the Jackman Foundation in Toronto, individual benefactors, Victoria College and the University of Toronto.
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