Anne Hathaway to Honor Off-Broadway at 54th Annual Obies

Stage-bound Academy Award nominee and Anne Hathaway will continue to pay homage to the theater, appearing as a presenter at the 2009 Obie Awards, according to The New York Post. The actress will star this summer as Viola in the Public’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, which begins previews and opens June 25 at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre. The Obies will be presented at Webster Hall on May 18.

The 54th annual Village Voice Obie Awards, which honor excellence in off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, will be hosted by Tony Award nominees Martha Plimpton and Daniel Breaker. Additional presenters will be announced shortly.

For the past half-century, the The Village Voice Obie Awards have honored the best of off Broadway and off-off Broadway. Structured with informal categories that change annually, the Obie Awards recognize persons and productions of excellence. Unlike most theater awards, the Obie Awards have no nominations; judges may award several Obies in each category and may even invent new categories to reward artistic merit.