An “icon of Canadian theatre” will receive the Stratford Festival’s Legacy Award.
Seana McKenna will receive the honour at a gala celebration on Sept. 23 at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel.
“Dazzling artistry, brilliant interpretive skills and unwavering commitment to excellence: such are the qualities that make Seana McKenna an icon of Canadian theatre and the ideal recipient of the Stratford Festival’s Legacy Award,” said Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino.
The event will be hosted by Michael Healey and will include tributes and performances by stars of the Stratford stage.
Born in Toronto, McKenna studied at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College and graduated from the National Theatre School before beginning her professional career at the Blyth Festival in 1979.
She joined the Stratford Festival three years later and has since won acclaim in a variety of roles, from Juliet to Richard III, from Lady Gay Spanker in London Assurance to Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Her most recent Festival performance was as Rose in last season’s Les Belles-Soeurs.
This season, her 31st with the Festival, she makes her Stratford directorial debut, at the helm of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
McKenna has received many awards of the years. She is a Member of the Order of Canada, has received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a Bronze Star from the City of Stratford and three Tyrone Guthrie Awards, including two for mentorship.
The Stratford Festival Legacy Gala was established in 2011. Past recipients include Christopher Plummer, Maggie Smith, Megan Follows, William Shatner, Martha Henry, Colm Feore, Gordon Pinsent, Eric McCormack, Andrea Martin, Len Cariou and Lucy Peacock.
