The Making of an Olivier Award

First Published 30 January 2012, Last Updated 15 February 2012

In an unassuming backstreet in West London, beneath rattling railway arches, a furnace burns away and a process that has changed very little since the Renaissance continues. Power tools and electricity might make the work of a founder easier, but bronze is still melted in a fiery furnace, left to cool in moulds and finished off by the delicate touch of artistic hands.

It takes around five days to make a Laurence Olivier Award, from the creation of a new mould to the finished, polished, prestigious prize. Official London Theatre joined some skilled craftsmen to follow the process from molten bronze to weighty award.

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