Theatres across the West End will lower their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Tuesday 3 November in memory of Sir Patrick Stewart, who has died at the age of 86.
The tribute was confirmed on Friday morning by the Society of London Theatre, which coordinates the gesture across its member venues. Dimming the lights is the industry's customary farewell to its most distinguished figures, and it places Stewart alongside Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Michael Gambon, both remembered in the same way in recent years.
His death was announced on Thursday evening, and our obituary of Sir Patrick Stewart traces a stage career that spanned almost seven decades.
It started at the Theatre Royal in Bristol in 1959. Seven years later he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he worked through dozens of productions before screen roles, Star Trek: The Next Generation above all, made him a household name around the world. He went back to the RSC in 2006 to play Prospero in The Tempest, a production that reached the West End a year later, and in later years he shared the stage with his close friend Sir Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot, both in London and on Broadway.
Stewart was knighted for services to drama in 2010. He won Olivier Awards for Antony and Cleopatra in 1979 and Hamlet in 2009, and his solo staging of A Christmas Carol was named Best Entertainment at the 1994 Oliviers.
Hannah Essex, Co-CEO of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said: "The theatre industry is mourning the loss of one of the greatest stage actors this country has ever seen. Sir Patrick Stewart was an acting giant whose seven-decade career is testament to his extraordinary talent and presence. We are proud to be able to pay tribute to him and extend our condolences to his loved ones."
Lead photo: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0, cropped.
