Dame Maggie Smith will be the 2012 recipient of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Legacy Award and will be honoured at a gala at Toronto’s new Four Seasons Hotel on Monday, September 10.
“Here in Stratford, Maggie Smith holds a special place in our hearts,” said Artistic Director Des McAnuff. “One of our Festival’s founding principles was that we should be a home for artists of international stature as well as for our own Canadian stars, a principle spectacularly embodied in the four seasons Dame Maggie spent with us between 1976 and 1980. Her performances on our stages made an immense contribution to our artistic legacy and are still treasured in the memories of all who experienced them.
“As brilliant in her many celebrated screen roles as in her classical work on stage, Dame Maggie is known around the globe as one of the truly legendary artists of our age. It gives me tremendous pleasure to have this opportunity to express to her our admiration and our gratitude for the extraordinary body of work she has bestowed not only upon us but upon the world at large.
“Having spoken to her recently, I know that Dame Maggie is really looking forward to coming back to Canada, where she enjoyed so much substantial success.”
In her four seasons at Stratford, Dame Maggie gave some of the most memorable performances in the Festival’s history, including Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, Rosalind in As You Like It, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Mistress Overdone in Measure for Measure, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lady Macbeth.
Read more:
http://broadwayworld.com/article/Maggie-Smith-to-Receive-Stratfords-Legacy-Award-20120531
