Director Trevor Nunn is among eight individuals selected for induction in the Broadway-based Theater Hall of Fame, it was announced this week.

Honouring achievement in American theatre, and founded in 1971 the hall is located in New York City.

Also being inducted will be Andre Bishop, artistic director of New York’s Lincoln Center Theater; Michael Kahn, the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.; playwrights Christopher Durang and Paula Vogel; actors Betty Buckley and Sam Waterston; and, posthumously, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz.

The eight will be formally welcomed into the Hall of Fame on January 28, 2013 during a gala ceremony at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre.

To be eligible for consideration, a potential inductee must have a career that spans at least a quarter century in American Theater, with at least five major Broadway production credits. Inductees are voted on by over 350 members of the Theater Hall of Fame and the American Theater Critics Association. Eight nominees are chosen for induction each year.

Nunn’s first Broadway directorial appearance was in 1981 with The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, though in his capacity as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was involved with five Broadway shows prior to that, beginning with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1971. Nunn won a Tony Award for his direction of Nickleby, as well as for his helming the Broadway productions of Cats and Les Miserables. Nunn’s most recent Broadway outing was directing a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Musical in 2009.

Founded in 1971, the Theater Hall of Fame’s mission is to preserve past theatre history, honour present theatre professionals and encourage emerging artists of American theatre.