Laverne Cox and Jessica Hecht to Join Shakespeare Theatre Company Gala

 Shakespeare Theatre Company has added presenters Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black, Inventing Anna) and Jessica Hecht (Succession, Friends) to its lineup for the Company’s annual fund-raising Gala on April 15, 2024. Titled All the World’s a Stage: Celebrating the US/UK Relationship, the gala will take place at The Anthem on the Washington, D.C., Wharf. 

Cox and Hecht will present STC Lifetime Achievement Awards to actors Judith Light and John Lithgow, respectively. Olivier Award-winning actor Indira Varma will receive the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Acting (aka “Will Award”), presented to her by Tony Award-winning actor Ralph Fiennes, her co-star in STC’s current production of Macbeth, who received the Will Award in 2001.

Laverne Cox

appeared in the television series Doubt with Judith Light, an active supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. Cox is a multi-Emmy Award-nominated actor and Emmy Award-winning producer, equal rights advocate, and public speaker. Her role on Orange is the New Black led to her being the first openly transgender actor nominated for a Primetime acting Emmy and made her the first Trans woman of color in a leading role on a mainstream scripted series.

John Lithgow

appeared in the title role of King Lear in The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park, with Jessica Hecht playing his daughter Regan. Hecht is an acclaimed stage actor, recognizable for her extensive TV credits from Friends to Breaking Bad and Succession, her Emmy Award-nominated role in the Netflix series Special, and her recent second Tony nomination for Summer, 1976.

Performers for the evening include Broadway star Jordan Donica, D.C.’s own Nova Y. Payton, and West End star Scarlett Strallen. The BBC’s Katty Kay will serve as the evening’s emcee. The event’s honorary co-chairs are The British Ambassador, Dame Karen Pierce DCMG, and Sir Charles Roxburgh KCB.

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