Dame Helen Mirren wins Standard award for The Audience
Dame Helen, who won an Oscar for The Queen in 2007, was named best actress for her performance as the monarch in West End stage play The Audience at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
The best actor prize was given jointly to Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear, for their performances as Shakespeare's Othello and Iago at the National.
Dame Maggie Smith and Lord Lloyd-Webber received special awards.
Dame Helen Mirren described the monarch as an "extraordinary woman"
The former was presented the Evening Standard Theatre Icon award by actress Kristin Scott Thomas, while the latter was recognised for his contribution to musical theatre.
Dame Helen said she felt her awards were being given to the Queen as much as to her.
"I did feel very much that the response to the play was as much a response to that person, that extraordinary woman, as it was to my performance. But I should be very proud," she said before receiving her award.
Other honours were presented to actor Kevin Spacey for his work at London's Old Vic theatre, and to David Walliams for his performance as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The best musical category, meanwhile, saw a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along win against box office smash The Book of Mormon and the National's production of The Light Princess.
The latter show did not go home empty-handed, though, with its star Rosalie Craig receiving the award for best musical performance at Sunday's ceremony.
Sir Richard Eyre was named best director for his staging of Ibsen's Ghosts at the Almeida, whose hit production of Chimerica saw its author Lucy Kirkwood win the prize for best play.
Kinnear and Lester spoke about the challenges of interpreting Othello for new audiences.
The former said: "It was important that we got on with each other because we're spending an awfully long time ruining each other's lives."
Lester added: "It breathed fresh life into a play that people may have found dated."
Homeland star Damian Lewis hosted the awards at London's Savoy Hotel, attended by such luminaries as broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, London Mayor Boris Johnson, actor Hugh Grant and singer Tori Amos.
Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands said she and her fellow judges had been "dazzled" by the talent on show this year and had found making their decisions "tougher than ever".
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