Stars Unite for Refugees in Urgent Hollywood Gala

On March 16th at the Masonic Lodge in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a host of British stars will gather to read extracts from Shakespeare's plays in response to real life refugee video stories. All profits go to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

Stephen Fry, Minnie Driver, Alex Kingston, Olivia Williams, Lucy Davis, Ashley Madekwe, Tom Riley, Charity Wakefield, Iddo Goldberg, Jimmy Akingbola, Susannah Fielding, Iain De Caestecker, Gaia Weiss, Nicholas Pinnock, David Newman, Eric Lampaert and more will perform. Plus a very special guest performance by actor Jay Abdo, himself a refugee of his native Syria.

A limited number of tickets will go on sale via the event website www.whitherwouldyougo.com - from $75.

'Whither Would You Go' is the creation of Ella Smith & Emma West, two producers inspired by Shakespeare's 'refugee' speech who wanted to create a truly unique event to raise awareness of the ongoing refugee crisis and most importantly, urgently needed funds.

Ella says - 'No-one reminds us better of the universality of humankind than William Shakespeare. His works feel as relevant today as the day he wrote them. Art can be used so effectively as a call to action - this is ours.'

Emma says - 'Storytelling remains one of mankind's most powerful tools. When reminded of how similar human beings are, of how much we all have in common, of our shared experiences - we err towards tolerance, compassion and ultimately acceptance.