For One Knight Only

Rob Grant and Paul Jackson's Lockdown Theatre raises over £320,000.

4 December, 2020

We want to say a huge thank you to each and every Red Dwarf fan that attended Lockdown Theatre's For One Knight Only last Sunday evening. After twice selling out, and with an audience that spanned 39 countries across the globe, we can now say, loudly and proudly, that the show raised over £320,000 for the arts. A truly staggering achievement.

Rob Grant and Paul Jackson, together with fellow producer Richard Clifford, pulled off something really special here. Mounted in support of Acting for Others, an umbrella charity that oversees 14 arts-supporting member charities, this means that Lockdown Theatre has raised a combined total of £432,000 over the course of four shows.

Here's Rob with a recap of how all this came about:

"We began this initiative when Robert Lindsay suggested we considered donating our proceeds to the RTF charity, a charity that is part of Acting for Others. In this climate, it sounded like a truly worthy cause, and we decided to mount future productions entirely for the benefit of the charity, and via them, the performing arts industry, which is suffering so hideously from the restrictions on live entertainment, with no clear end in sight. We enjoy putting the shows on, the cast enjoy performing them, and the audiences enjoy watching. It's a three-way win."

Since its inception, Lockdown Theatre has attracted some big names in the acting profession, and this the latest project was no different. It starred a collection of little-known actors named Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Kenneth Branagh.

So yeah, this one was quite a big deal.

And you don't have to take our word for all this. Here's what the critics had to say:

The Guardian: Pure thespian gold

The Daily Telegraph: Like a séance aimed at spiriting up better times. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

WhatsOnStage: An intimate encounter that felt like one of those dream dinner party games where you get to invite your fantasy guests. That sense of casual nearness, of inviting these people into your home, was emphasised by the fact that they were talking from their own living rooms via a slightly ramshackle Zoom link.

And even more importantly, here's some of our favourite comments from our audience, including Lockdown Theatre alumnus, Sanjeev Bhaskar:

A huge thank you to our stellar cast, the teams at Lockdown Theatre, Acting for Others, the Royal Theatrical Fund, Overture+ and the individuals who generously stepped in to help when the show went stratospheric. We're indebted to you all, as we are to our wonderful audience, all 7,000 of you.

If you'd like to know more about Lockdown Theatre you can follow our official accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

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