Stewart, who was last seen in the West End in Waiting for Godot opposite Ian McKellen, is to become a Knight Bachelor, for services to drama. He won an Evening Standard Award, a Critics' Circle Award, a TMA Theatre Award, a Theatregoers' Choice Award nomination, an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, a Laurence Olivier Award nomination and a Tony Award nomination for playing the title role in Rupert Goold's Chichester Festival Theatre production of Macbeth, which subsequently transferred to the West End and then Broadway. His other New York credits include productions of Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Ride Down Mount Morgan and The Tempest. Stewart performed his acclaimed, award-winning one-man show, A Christmas Carol, both in the West End and on Broadway. His many film and television credits include the "X-Men" films, "Moby Dick," "King of Texas" and "King Lear," as well as his role as Jean-Luc Picard in the "Star Trek" series. He was made an OBE in 2001.

In a story in the U.K Daily Telegraph, Stewart has commented, "I am very proud to receive this honor. The theatre is and has always been my great joy. In particular the past six years have given me acting opportunities that at one time I could not have imagined possible."

Hytner, who has been artistic director of the National Theatre since 2003 where he is currently represented by his production of Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art and where he previously directed Bennett's The History Boys that subsequently traveled to Broadway and film, is also to become a Knights Bachelor, for services to drama. Hytner's other Broadway credits include the musicals Miss Saigon, Carousel and Sweet Smell of Success, and a Lincoln Center Theatre production of Twelfth Night.

Phyllida Lloyd, who directed both the original stage and screen versions of Mamma Mia!, is to receive a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) award, for services to drama. As well as Mamma Mia! (currently running at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre), she has also been represented in 2009 by the transfer of the Donmar Warehouse originated production of Mary Stuart to Broadway, where it won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, and she was personally nominated for Best Director of a Play. In a press story, she has been quoted as saying, "It's a complete surprise. I feel humbled and it's very sobering. But it only really has meaning in the context of all the casts and crews that have supported me. One gets to be the captain of the ship but ultimately you would not get anywhere without the cast and crew."

Margaret Tyzack, the veteran stage actress last seen on the London stage in Nicholas Hytner's production of Phedre at the National Theatre, was already an OBE (Order of the British Empire). She now earns a CBE. She has previously appeared on Broadway in an RSC production of All's Well That Ends Well and in the Broadway transfer of Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage, for which she won the 1990 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.