Tonight:
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Acting trio to present our theatre awards
Louise Jury, Evening Standard23 Nov 2007
Actors Simon Russell Beale, Dame Eileen Atkins and Sophie Okonedo will hand out prizes at the 2007 Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
Russell Beale, a three-times best actor winner who is about to open at the National in Much Ado About Nothing alongside Zoe Wanamaker, will present the Sydney Edwards award for best director. It will go to either Rupert Goold for Macbeth, Tim Supple for Indian Midsummer Night's Dream or Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris for War Horse.
Dame Eileen, who stars in the BBC's Sunday night drama Cranford and will return to the West End in January in Edward Bond's The Sea at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, will present the best actor award. The contenders are Charles Dance for his performance in Shadowlands, Robert Lindsay for Archie Rice in The Entertainer, Mark Rylance for his comic turn in Boeing-Boeing and Patrick Stewart for Macbeth.
Okonedo will announce the special award, presented each year at the judges' discretion. The awards ceremony, compered by Richard Wilson, will take place at the Savoy Hotel on Tuesday.
