Jeremy Irons, Kathy Burke and Alan Cumming are among the stars who will take leading roles at the 52nd Evening Standard Theatre Awards at The Savoy next Monday.

Irons, who this year returned to the West End for the first time in two decades to star in Embers at the Duke of York's theatre, will present the Sydney Edwards Award for best director.

This is being contested by Marianne Elliott for Pillars Of The Community, Michael Grandage for Frost/Nixon, The Wild Duck and Evita and Anthony Page for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Irons, a star of the forthcoming fantasy film Eragon, will also be keeping a close eye on who wins the best actress award as his wife, Sinead Cusack, is nominated for her performance in Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll.

She faces stiff competition from Kathleen Turner for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf ? and Frances O'Connor for Tom And Viv.

Rock 'N' Roll is also up for best play along with Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon and Conor Macpherson's The Seafarer, which transferred from the Donmar Warehouse to the Gielgud Theatre last week.

Cumming, who will present the best musical award, also returned to the London stage this year, starring in Bent, Martin Sherman's play depicting homosexual love in a Nazi concentration camp, currently on at the Trafalgar Studios.

His category's nominees are Eric Idle's Spamalot, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita and Tony Kushner's Caroline, Or Change. Burke will present the Charles Wintour award for most promising playwright.

The award comes with £30,000 donated jointly by Lord Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, publisher of the Evening Standard, and American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, daughter of the late Charles Wintoura former editor of the Evening Standard.

Comedy actress Burke will be directing Dying For It, Moira Buffini's adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's 1928 satire The Suicide, at the Almeida Theatre in March.

Ned Sherrin will be master of ceremonies at the awards, which will be hosted by Lady Rothermere, wife of Lord Rothermere.

Other stars who will attend at the event include Dame Eileen Atkins, Tim Curry, Jodhi May, Iain Glen, Douglas Hodge and Richard Wilson.