Branagh receives stage award

18 November 2008 -

Belfast-born actor Kenneth Branagh has been rewarded for his role in Anton Chekhov's Ivanov production by winning the Stage Performance prize at the Variety Club Awards.

The Variety Club Children's Charity has been helping sick, disabled and disadvantaged children in the UK for more than 50 years.

Its showbiz awards ceremony celebrates and rewards the creative talents of famous faces across a number of fields and takes place annually.

Kenneth Branagh secured the Stage Performance prize for his role in Tom Stoppard's version of the Chekhov classic.

He plays the main role in the production, which tells the tale of a man racked with self-doubt and torment, facing the end of his marriage and living in a tumultuous time of change in Russia.

John Sachs, Variety Club's showbiz chairman, said the prizes given out are prestigious and rank among the most important in celebrity awards.

"The Variety Club Showbiz Awards are the oldest and most established awards in the UK that recognise the outstanding talent in the field of entertainment," he stated.

In other news, Kenneth Branagh has been shortlisted for a prize at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.