Dench back on stage after spraining ankle

British actress Dame Judi Dench has returned to the stage production of Madame de Sade after suffering a sprained ankle.

The Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love actress portrays a noblewoman in Japanese scribe Yukio Mishima’s Madame de Sade, which is running at the West End’s Wyndham theater and which co-stars Rosamund Pike in the title role. Dench and Pike previously appeared together in the film version of Pride & Prejudice.

Dench, 74, was unable to star in four performances of the stage drama after she tripped outside the playhouse last week and sustained a severely sprained ankle, the BBC said.

The actress is expected to use a walking stick in performances until she has fully recovered, the British broadcaster said.

The company are working together to facilitate any changes this may mean to the onstage performances and technical aspects of the production, the Donmar Warehouse theater company said in a statement.

I am thrilled to be returning to ‘Madame de Sade,’ and would like to thank everyone for their support during this time, Dench added. We are having enormous fun as a company, and I am looking forward to getting back to the role of Madame de Montreuil.