West End theatres to dim lights for Patrick Stewart

Theatres across the West End will dim their lights for two minutes on Tuesday 3 November at 7pm, in memory of the actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who has died aged 86. The Society of London Theatre, the trade body that represents the commercial theatres in the capital, announced the tribute on Friday 30 October.

Stewart died at home on Wednesday 28 October, according to The Guardian. He was best known to many people for playing Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, but his home was the stage.

He made his professional stage debut in 1959 at the Theatre Royal in Bristol. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and went on to appear in around 60 of its productions, according to WhatsOnStage. In 2006 he played Prospero in the RSC's production of The Tempest. The production moved into the West End the following year, which means it transferred from its original home at Stratford-upon-Avon into a commercial theatre in London.

He also appeared in Waiting for Godot in both the West End and on Broadway, alongside his long-time friend Ian McKellen. McKellen has paid tribute to him since the news broke.

Stewart's stage honours included two Olivier Awards, the main prizes for British theatre, which are run by the Society of London Theatre. He won for his performance in Antony and Cleopatra in 1979, and again for Hamlet in 2009. His one-man version of A Christmas Carol won the Olivier for Best Entertainment in 1994. He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama.

The dimming is a traditional way for theatres to mark the loss of someone who worked on their stages. Hannah Essex, who is Co-CEO of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, is among the leaders of the organisations behind the tribute. Theatres taking part will dim their front-of-house and stage lighting for the two minutes, and the gesture is open to any member of the public who wants to mark it.

For many audiences, the moment will be a quiet one. Hundreds of people in a darkened auditorium, all going still at the same time, is one of the few shared rituals the theatre has. This time it will happen across the whole of the West End, on a Tuesday evening, for an actor who spent more than six decades on the stage.