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Shakespeare Club of New York City annual award plaque presented to Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in 1952, 8.5 x 11, featuring a bronze relief portrait of William Shakespeare mounted on a wooden plaque with an engraved presentation plate, “The Shakespeare Club of New York City, Annual Award 1952, To – Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier – For Meritorious Service in the Shakespeare Theatre.” The reverse bears a Medallic Art Co. of New York plaque and hanging fixture. In fine condition, with scattered scuffs and marks to the wooden plaque.
The award came during Leigh and Olivier’s 1951–52 season in Antony and Cleopatra, in which they appeared together as Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The production originated in London before transferring to New York’s Ziegfeld Theatre in December 1951, where it was presented in repertory with George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra, with Leigh again as Cleopatra and Olivier as Caesar. The Shakespeare Club’s 1952 award recognized the couple for their “meritorious service in the Shakespeare theatre” at a time when both were firmly established as leading Shakespearean actors, with Olivier’s stage career complemented by his acclaimed film adaptations of Henry V and Hamlet.
