Sir Kenneth Branagh receives the Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award!

A huge congratulations is in order for Sir Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart). It has been announced that Branagh is the latest recipient of the Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award.

The award is given by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Shakespeare Institute for

outstanding achievement in extending the appreciation and enjoyment of Shakespeare.

Previous recipients of the award include Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, as well as many more. Branagh has both starred in and directed many Shakespeare plays over the years and most recently appeared in Macbeth in Manchester and New York. Of course, his most recent project is the new Cinderella, which came out in theaters last week.

About the award, Branagh said,

I am honoured to be this year’s recipient of the distinguished Pragnell Shakespeare award. To be in the company of such illustrious predecessors is both touching and meaningful. I look forward very much to returning to Stratford, a town I love, and of course, to a delightful lunch to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday!

Professor Stanley Wells, who is the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Honorary President, said that

Kenneth Branagh is more than worthy of this prestigious award, both as a great actor and director of Shakespeare on stage and as an innovative, prolific and highly successful director and actor in films of Shakespeare that have brought his plays to global audiences who would never otherwise have been able to enjoy them.

The award ceremony will take place at the Shakespeare Birthday Luncheon in Stratford on April 25. Tickets are currently still available, and you can find out more about the event here.

Congratulations once again!

Have you seen Branagh in a Shakespeare play or film? Let us know in the comments.