Dame Judi Dench, who won the 1999 Tony Award as Best Leading Actress in a Play for Amy’s View, described the whole experience of being back in America after 40 years of being away as "a very surreal experience.""It is something that doesn’t happen to you in Britain," Dench told BroadwayNow. "There may be a few people who applaud when you go out on stage, but you don ’t get this massive lots of people standing up and applauding and lots of people signing autographs. It’s extraordinary to come to a country where two years ago I wasn’t even known. And suddenly this happens, and I get Oscar, and it is a surreal experience. That’s exactly what the feeling is. I feel I have to go back to England and have a lie down."
Dench said that "it’s completely coincidental" that she has won both an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love and then a Tony for Amy’s View. "I just decide to come back to Broadway after a long time, but it’s absolutely coincidental that it happened after Shakespeare in Love. But it couldn’t be a more happy one for me."
Dench said that while "there’s certainly a joy to win an award for acting," she herself finds it very difficult to actually think about it. "I find it difficult to judge acting," she said. "It’s a difficult thing to do, to choose somebody it’s an impossibility."
When asked if her winning a Tony might mean she may come back to New York theater more often, Dench replied: "I don’t know. I have to go home first. Some people think I’m not going home at all because I’ve been having such a good time."
Dench said that the theater has always been her first love, one that has never been surpassed by movies or television. On the other hand, she said, she feels "disturbed" that Amy’s View playwright David Hare was not recognized at all for his playwriting. "I think it’s [Amy’s View is a remarkable play. I’ve lived with it for over two years now. It’s been a long time now. I think that it’s a remarkable play. And I’m sad for David that his huge success with Blue Room and Amy’s View haven’t been recognized. That’s not even mentioning Via Dolorosa which a most extraordinary work."
Dench said that what sustains her through Amy’s View is the fear factor that she feels every time she performs the play on stage. "It’s the same fear that you get when you go out on stage every night. The fear is almost overwhelming most of the time, and you can use it. It causes an adrenaline rush, and it’s something you need for the performance."
Playwright David Hare was passed over for Blue Room, Amy’s View and Via Dolorosa. But in a post-Tony interview, he seemed resigned to the fact.
"Straight plays have been getting all the attention this year," Hare said. They’re also very well attended. It would be wrong for me to have everything. Awards are gifts. It should be given to people who the Tonys feel deserve them. Nobody is entitled to awards. That’s just the way things are run.