Ken Bags Top Award

Kenneth Branagh, who's just set up a film production which will specialise in Shakespeare adaptations, is to be the youngest winner of the Shakespeare Guild's Gielgud Award. 39-year-old Branagh will be given the gong at a ceremony on Sunday (January 16), which will be followed by performances from some of the world's best known fans of the Bard, including Richard Briers, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine McEwan. Speaking at a screening this week in London of his latest movie Love's Labours Lost, which was attended by the cast and crew, Branagh explained the problems he faced getting this play to the big screen. 'When I play that hadn't been performed publicly for about 200 years, they were a bit wary. And when I said I wanted to do it as a musical, they were thinking there hasn't been a successful screen musical for about 200 years either.' The movie, which features a number of Hollywood stars in the cast, including Alicia Silverstone, Alessandro Nivola and Matthew Lillard may have the purists up in arms. Not only has the play been severely cut, but the cast burst into song and dance routines at regular intervals with a range of musical numbers from the likes of Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Nevertheless the movie was warmly received at the London screening.