Dame Joan Plowright, National Theatre Platform

The National Theatre ‘Platforms’ series continues, bringing us an afternoon with the celebrated actress Dame Joan Plowright. Alongside director Richard Digby Day, Plowright will be discussing her expansive career, which spanned stage and screen and extended over five decades before she was forced to retire earlier this year after losing her sight.
A stage and screen legend 
After training in 1950 at a then-fledgling Old Vic Theatre School, Plowright made her debut theatre performance in 1951, and later became a member of the National Theatre’s first company. Duly knighted in 2004, Dame Joan became one third of a trio of female acting greats – joining Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith. The three women appeared together (alongside Cher) in the 1999 Zeffirelli screen classic ‘Tea with Mussolini’ and their brilliant performances led the film to become an unexpected classic. 
Throughout her many years of experience and growing acting credits, Dame Joan seems to have remained as grounded as ever – and she still apparently insists on being called ‘Joan’. She also is reported to possess a brilliant sense of humour – so we can’t wait to see her return to her old stomping ground at the National, in order to share a lifetime of acting anecdotes.