Fiona Shaw is one of the UK’s most celebrated and respected stage actresses, most recently receiving rave reviews and the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress in Medea in London’s West End.

In 1990 she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Rosalind in As You Like it, followed by a further Olivier Award for Best Actress and London Critics Award for her performance in The Good Person of Sechuan. She received a further Laurence Olivier Award and London Critics Award for her portrayal of Electra, again in 1990. This was followed in 1992 by the London Critics Award for her eponymous portrayal of Hedda Gabler and in 1993 she again received the Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Drama Award for Best Actress for Stephen Daldry’s Machinal.

In addition to her performances on stage, Shaw has also directed The Widowers Houses for the National Theatre Education Tour and Hamlet for the National Theatre of Ireland.

For television Shaw has reprised her roles in "Hedda Gabler" and "The Waste Land", both for the BBC, as well as starring in Danny Boyle’s "For the Greater Good"; Roger Michell’s "Persuasian"; Andy Wilson’s "Gormenghast" and as the star of Lynda La Plante’s "Mind Games".

In 1997 Shaw was awarded a doctorate at the National University of Ireland and made an Honorary Professor of Drama at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. In 2001 she was awarded a doctorate from Trinity College Dublin and the French Government has awarded her an Officer des Artes et des Lettres. She also received a CBE in last year’s New Year’s Honours List.