The West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre is to be renamed the Judi Dench Theatre next year, becoming the first West End theatre to be named after an actress.

The theatre’s owners say the renaming reflects both Dench’s extraordinary career and her close historical ties to the venue, one of the largest independent theatres in London’s West End.

Dame Judi was a founding member of the Theatre of Comedy, a collective of actors and writers who held shares in the theatre during the 1980s and early 1990s. Through a series of successful productions, the group helped secure the theatre’s future and established a lasting relationship with the Taffner family, which still owns the venue today.

Announcing the decision, theatre chairman Donald Taffner Jr said the family was “delighted” to recognise Dench’s contribution to the arts.

“Dame Judi has been a close friend of the family for so long,” he said. “We are delighted to recognise her extraordinary talent and extensive contribution to many in the renaming of our theatre.”

The theatre’s chief executive, Eleanor Lang, said the decision also addressed the lack of women commemorated in the names of West End theatres.

Responding to the announcement, Dame Judi Dench said she was “truly overwhelmed” by the honour.

“The Shaftesbury Theatre has always held a special place in my heart,” she said. “My relationship to the Theatre of Comedy and to the Taffner family goes back many years and to have this beautiful theatre renamed after me is truly overwhelming.”

She added that live theatre remained an essential part of cultural life, describing it as “so important as a way of telling stories and entertaining audiences”.

The theatre opened in 1911 as the New Prince’s Theatre, then the Prince’s Theatre in 1914, and was renamed the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1963.

It will be renamed the Judi Dench Theatre in February 2027.