DAME Judi Dench has sent a message of support to the city's struggling theatre.

Play to the Crowd, which runs the Theatre Royal in Jewry Street, received a blessing from the Academy Award-winning actress.

This comes after it launched a survival appeal last month. The charity needs to raise £225,000 by September to make up for shortfalls caused by the health crisis.

Dame Judi said: "I remember so clearly my first experience on the stage of Theatre Royal Winchester for the Winchester Festival in 2002.

"My dear friend Joan Plowright’s filming in Hollywood overran, so John Miller asked me to step into the breach and be interviewed instead.

"The moment we stepped out onto the stage for the sound-check I exclaimed: 'Oh, what a lovely space.'

"I was keen to return for a theatrical performance there, so I asked John to write a show on Great Eccentrics, which we performed with Michael Pennington in 2005, and again with Charles Dance in 2008.

"It’s such a lovely theatre to work in, and I do hope it will reopen before too long, as I can’t wait to tread its boards again. Until then I urge everyone to subscribe to the appeal to keep it going."

So far the charity has raised £150,000.

Deryck Newland, chief executive of Play to the Crowd, said: "We’re thrilled to have received this message of support from the extraordinary Dame Judi.

"Our theatre is indeed ‘a lovely space’ – in fact it is one of the only surviving cine-variety theatres in the UK and is an absolute gem of a theatre – loved by performers and audiences alike."

Donations can be made online, by cheque, or by calling the Box Office on 01962 840 440.