Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
| Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress | |
|---|---|
2025 Recipient: Lesley Manville | |
| Awarded for | Best Actress in a Play |
| Location | England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1985 |
| Currently held by | Lesley Manville for Oedipus (2025) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
This award was introduced in 1985, as Actress of the Year, then retitled to its current name for the 1993 ceremony. Prior to this award, from 1976 to 1984 (and again in 1988), there was a pair of awards given each year for this general category, one for Actress of the Year in a New Play and the other for Actress of the Year in a Revival.