Editing Laurence Olivier (section)

===1936–1938: Old Vic and Vivien Leigh===
In May 1936 Olivier and Richardson jointly directed and starred in a new piece by [[J.&nbsp;B. Priestley]], ''[[Bees on the Boatdeck]]''. Both actors won excellent notices, but the play, an allegory of Britain's decay, did not attract the public and closed after four weeks.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=60}} Later in the same year Olivier accepted an invitation to join [[the Old Vic]] company. The theatre, in an unfashionable location south of the [[Thames]], had offered inexpensive tickets for opera and drama under its proprietor [[Lilian Baylis]] since 1912.{{sfn|Gilbert|2009|p=16}} Her drama company specialised in the plays of Shakespeare, and many leading actors had taken very large cuts in their pay to develop their Shakespearean techniques there.{{efn|Olivier had received £500–£600 a week for his recent film work; at the Old Vic his weekly wage was £20.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=114}}}} Gielgud had been in the company from 1929 to 1931 and Richardson from 1930 to 1932.{{sfn|Miller|1995|p=36}} Among the actors whom Olivier joined in late 1936 were [[Edith Evans]], [[Ruth Gordon]], [[Alec Guinness]] and [[Michael Redgrave]].{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=115}} In January 1937 Olivier took the title role in an uncut version of ''[[Hamlet]]'' in which once again his delivery of the verse was unfavourably compared with that of Gielgud, who had played the role on the same stage seven years previously to enormous acclaim.{{efn|[[Ivor Brown]] called Gielgud's performance "tremendous&nbsp;... the best Hamlet of [my] experience."<ref name="ivor hamlet"/> [[James Agate]] wrote, "I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that it is the high water-mark of English Shakespearean acting of our time."{{sfn|Croall|2000|p=129}}}} ''[[The Observer]]''{{'}}s [[Ivor Brown]] praised Olivier's "magnetism and muscularity" but missed "the kind of pathos so richly established by Mr Gielgud".<ref name="ivor hamlet2"/> The reviewer in ''The Times'' found the performance "full of vitality", but at times "too light&nbsp;... the character slips from Mr Olivier's grasp".<ref name="times-hamlet"/>

[[File:Old Vic0185.JPG|thumb|left|alt=exterior of Victorian theatre|[[The Old Vic]] (photographed in 2012), where Olivier honed his skill as a Shakespearean]]
After ''Hamlet'', the company presented ''Twelfth Night'' in what the director, [[Tyrone Guthrie]], summed up as "a baddish, immature production of mine, with Olivier outrageously amusing as [[Sir Toby Belch|Sir Toby]] and a very young Alec Guinness outrageous and more amusing as [[Sir Andrew Aguecheek|Sir Andrew]]".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=121}} ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' was the next play, presented in May to mark the [[Coronation of George VI]]. A pacifist, as he then was, Olivier was as reluctant to play the warrior king as Guthrie was to direct the piece, but the production was a success and Baylis had to extend the run from four to eight weeks.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=123}}

Following Olivier's success in Shakespearean stage productions, he made his first foray into Shakespeare on film in 1936, as [[Orlando (As You Like It)|Orlando]] in ''[[As You Like It (1936 film)|As You Like It]]'', directed by [[Paul Czinner]], "a charming if lightweight production", according to Michael Brooke of the [[British Film Institute]]'s (BFI's) [[Screenonline]].<ref name="BFI: AYLI"/> The following year Olivier appeared alongside [[Vivien Leigh]] in the historical drama ''[[Fire Over England]]''. He had first met Leigh briefly at the [[Savoy Hotel Grill Room|Savoy Grill]] and then again when she visited him during the run of ''Romeo and Juliet'', probably early in 1936, and the two had begun an affair sometime that year.{{sfnm|1a1=Olivier|1y=1992|1p=63|2a1=Coleman|2y=2006|2pp=75–76}} Of the relationship, Olivier later said that "I couldn't help myself with Vivien. No man could. I hated myself for cheating on Jill, but then I had cheated before, but this was something different. This wasn't just out of lust. This was love that I really didn't ask for but was drawn into."{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=60}} While his relationship with Leigh continued he conducted an affair with the actress [[Ann Todd]],{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=76, 79|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2p=61}} and possibly had a brief affair with the actor [[Henry Ainley]], according to the biographer [[Michael Munn]].{{sfnm|1a1=Coleman|1y=2006|1pp=81, 505|2a1=Munn|2y=2007|2pp=39–41}}{{efn|Olivier never overtly acknowledged his affair with Ainley, although Ainley's letters to him are clear. Olivier's third wife, the actress [[Joan Plowright]], expressed surprise at hearing the possibility, but commented, "If he did, so what?"{{sfn|Coleman|2006|p=505}} Later, there were also persistent rumours of an affair with the entertainer [[Danny Kaye]],{{sfn|Capua|2003|pp=114 and 129}} although Coleman considers them to be unsubstantiated;{{sfn|Coleman|2006|pp=508–509}} Plowright also dismisses the rumours.<ref name="Spect: Plowright"/>}}

In June 1937 the Old Vic company took up an invitation to perform ''Hamlet'' in the courtyard of the castle at [[Kronborg|Elsinore]], where Shakespeare located the play. Olivier secured the casting of Leigh to replace Cherry Cottrell as [[Ophelia]]. Because of torrential rain the performance had to be moved from the castle courtyard to the ballroom of a local hotel, but the tradition of playing Hamlet at Elsinore was established, and Olivier was followed by, among others, Gielgud (1939), Redgrave (1950), [[Richard Burton]] (1954), [[Christopher Plummer]] (1964), [[Derek Jacobi]] (1979), [[Kenneth Branagh]] (1988) and [[Jude Law]] (2009).<ref name=Hamletscenen/> Back in London, the company staged ''[[Macbeth]]'', with Olivier in the title role. The stylised production by [[Michel Saint-Denis]] was not well liked, but Olivier had some good notices among the bad.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=131}} On returning from Denmark, Olivier and Leigh told their respective spouses about the affair and that their marriages were over; Esmond moved out of the marital house and in with her mother.{{sfn|Olivier|1992|p=70}} After Olivier and Leigh made a tour of Europe in mid-1937 they returned to separate film projects—''[[A Yank at Oxford]]'' for her and ''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]'' for him—and moved into a property together in [[Iver]], Buckinghamshire.{{sfn|Munn|2007|p=77}}

Olivier returned to the Old Vic for a second season in 1938. For ''[[Othello]]'' he played [[Iago]], with Richardson in the title role. Guthrie wanted to experiment with the theory that Iago's villainy is driven by a suppressed love for [[Othello (character)|Othello]].{{sfn|Darlington|1968|pp=45–46}} Olivier was willing to co-operate, but Richardson was not; audiences and most critics failed to spot the supposed motivation of Olivier's Iago, and Richardson's Othello seemed underpowered.{{sfn|Neill|2006|p=78}} After that comparative failure, the company had a success with ''[[Coriolanus]]'' starring Olivier in the title role. The notices were laudatory, mentioning him alongside great predecessors such as [[Edmund Kean]], [[William Macready]] and [[Henry Irving]]. The actor [[Robert Speaight]] described it as "Olivier's first incontestably great performance".{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=135}} This was Olivier's last appearance on a London stage for six years.{{sfn|Holden|1988|p=135}}