A COLOSSAL artwork is being created near Oswestry for a major theatrical celebration.

Standing at 23ft, Messenger is the UK's largest bronze sculpture and is being cast at Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant for display at Theatre Royal Plymouth next year.

Messenger captures a young actor in mid-performance during a staging of Othello, and aims to capture the energy and creativity of the theatre and of Plymouth's cultural life

Weighing in at nine and a half tonnes and nine metres (30ft) wide, Messenger is the largest lost-wax cast bronze sculpture to be cast in the UK.

Commissioned by the Theatre Royal Plymouth as part of a 7.5million pound regeneration project which saw the theatre reopened in 2013, Messenger has been created by contemporary artist and sculptor Joseph Hillier.

Hillier’s inspiration for the sculpture came from a split-second pose struck by an actor during rehearsals for Theatre Royal Plymouth’s award-winning production of Othello in 2014.

The sculpture was created using 3D scans taken from an actor poised before bursting action.

Joseph Hillier said: “The title, Messenger, refers to the pivotal role the performer takes to breathe life into the words of a writer and the intent of a director. The sculpture celebrates the potential of creativity as a dynamic catalyst for change."

Castle Fine Arts Foundry is using the ancient technique of lost wax casting for the project, which is due to be completed in the spring. Made from more than 200 bronze panels, each section of the sculpture must be cast individually before being welded together by more than 30 master craftsmen at the foundry.

While monumental in scale, Hillier is keen that the digital design of the sculpture, made using 360-degree Computer Aided Design (CAD), will be clearly visible when unveiled, showing "a true marriage of technology and tradition, old and new".

The theatre hopes that the sculpture will be installed and unveiled to the public in Spring 2019.