The Old Vic Centre | The Old Vic Center 1945-1951 |
 laurence olivier playing Oedipus Rex This was when Laurence Olivier invited him to London (in October 1945) to help create an adaptation of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex at the old Vic Theater. It happened to be one of Laurence Olivier’s greatest parts, which was greatly due to MSD’s direction. This theater was led by three director-actors, namely Laurence Olivier himself, Ralph Richardson and John Burrel. The former asked MSD to come work with his London Theater Studio’s friends, Devine and Shaw on a new project: a theater school within the Old Vic. The project fell into three different sections, which followed a strict hierarchy but which worked together. It was known as “the wedding cake” organization: first there was the school (the Old Vic Theater School), then after three years there was a children’s theater (the Young Vic) and finally, an experimental theater. The project was accepted by the Board of Governors and the opening was planned in January 1947. MSD became the General Head of the new “Old Vic Theater Center” and he was also in charge of the experimental section. George Devine, alongside with Suria Magito, was the director of The Young Vic and Glen Byam Shaw directed the Old Vic School with Pierre Lefèvre and Cecil Clark. There were also many teachers such as Litz Pisk, Jani Strasser, John Blatchley, Chattie Salaman, Marion Watson, Barbara Goodwin and Geraldine Alford.  Old Vic's stage The Old Vic Theater Center played a crucial role in MSD’s professional life. He chose a career as a teacher over a career as a director. This was when most of his theories on dramatic training fully developed: to him, all the different courses were interconnected (“la formation organique”) and all parts of a whole process (“la théorie des cordes”). This simultaneous interdisciplinary concept was to be associated with a “style rediscovery”, that is to say a movement which embraced all dramatic styles from classical to contemporary. However, the success of the project had negative consequences. Some people had strong personal ambitions, others were jealous and hostile. Consequently the triumvirate surrounding Laurence Olivier was fired and the general organization was modified. All these tensions led to the resignation of the three directors. Despite the involvement of the crew, the students and the professionals, the School was closed. Even though the Old Vic Theater Center disappeared in 1952, it had a major impact on the landscape of British Drama for the rest of the Twentieth Century.
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