A NEW Elizabethan-style theatre could be built in York just a stone’s throw from one of Dame Judi Dench’s first acting triumphs.

The British Shakespeare Company (BSC), which wants to recreate Shakespeare’s Elizabethan Rose theatre in the north of England, has already been shown one potential location in York.

It is close to Museum Gardens, where a young Judi Dench was involved in three outdoor productions of the York Mystery Plays in the 1950s – including a performance as the Virgin Mary – before going on to a glittering career in theatre, film and TV.

The Press reported yesterday how the replica theatre set created for the 1990s film Shakespeare In Love had been donated by the York-born actress to the BSC to help it recreate the Rose Theatre. Dame Judi, who won an Oscar for her part in the movie, had been given the set after filming finished and kept it in storage over the subsequent decade.

The BSC’s founder Robert Williamson, who believes that York would be the “absolutely perfect location” for the theatre, said having held preliminary talks with City of York Council some months ago.

He was now keen to hold further, more detailed discussions as soon as possible.

But he revealed that during the initial talks, he had already been shown one potential location for the theatre, on the site of some empty buildings, situated between St Mary’s Abbey in the Museum Gardens, Bootham and Marygate.

The single-storey structures, which are partially boarded up, are understood to have had a former military use.

Mr Williamson said while it might only cost several hundred thousand pounds simply to re-construct the theatre, there would be a much higher bill if a much bigger living history centre could be built, as he hoped.

But he said this would not mean a hefty bill for local taxpayers, as funding could be sought from both the National Lottery and Europe.

He said such a centre would be of interest and use to every school pupil in the north, all of whom were required by law to study Shakespeare.