Double Dame act divides for Broadway transfer

Dame Judi Dench has decided not to travel to New York with The Hours screenwriter David Hare’s play The Breath Of Life, although her co-star in the West End production, Dame Maggie Smith, will be continuing in her role when the play opens on Broadway in late autumn.

It will mark Dame Maggie’s first Broadway show since Lettice And Lovage in 1990.