 The triumvirate secured the New Theatre for their first season and recruited a company . Thorndike was joined by , among others , Harcourt Williams , Joyce Redman and Margaret Leighton . It was agreed to open with a repertory of four plays : Peer Gynt , Arms and the Man , Richard III and Uncle Vanya . Olivier 's roles were the Button Moulder , Sergius , Richard and Astrov ; Richardson played Peer , Bluntschli , Richmond and Vanya . The first three productions met with acclaim from reviewers and audiences ; Uncle Vanya had a mixed reception , although The Times thought Olivier 's Astrov " a most distinguished portrait " and Richardson 's Vanya " the perfect compound of absurdity and pathos " . In Richard III , according to Billington , Olivier 's triumph was absolute : " so much so that it became his most frequently imitated performance and one whose supremacy went unchallenged until Antony Sher played the role forty years later " . In 1945 the company toured Germany , where they were seen by many thousands of Allied servicemen ; they also appeared at the Comédie @-@ Française theatre in Paris , the first foreign company to be given that honour . The critic Harold Hobson wrote that Richardson and Olivier quickly " made the Old Vic the most famous theatre in the Anglo @-@ Saxon world . " 
 The triumvirate secured the New Theatre for their first season and recruited a company . Thorndike was joined by , among others , Harcourt Williams , Joyce Redman and Margaret Leighton . It was agreed to open with a repertory of four plays : Peer Gynt , Arms and the Man , Richard III and Uncle Vanya . Olivier <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>roles <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>were</mark></a> the Button Moulder , Sergius , Richard and Astrov ; Richardson played Peer , Bluntschli , Richmond and Vanya . The first three productions met with acclaim from reviewers and audiences ; Uncle Vanya had a mixed reception , although The Times thought Olivier <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>Astrov " a most distinguished portrait " and Richardson <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>Vanya " the perfect compound of absurdity and pathos " . In Richard III , according to Billington , Olivier <a href='null_genetive' title='5'><mark>'s</mark></a>triumph was absolute : " so much so that it became his most frequently imitated performance and one whose supremacy went unchallenged until Antony Sher played the role forty years later " . In 1945 the company toured Germany , where they <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>were</mark></a> seen by many thousands of Allied servicemen ; they also appeared at the Comédie @-@ Française theatre in Paris , the first foreign company to be given that honour . The critic Harold Hobson wrote that Richardson and Olivier quickly " made the Old Vic the most famous theatre in the Anglo @-@ Saxon world . " 
Da triumvirate secured the New Theatre for their first season and recruited a company . Thorndike was joined by , among others , Harcourt Williams , Joyce Redman and Margaret Leighton . It was agreed to open with a repertory of four plays : Peer Gynt , Arms and tdaMan , Richard III and Uncle Vanya . Olivier  roles was thdautton Moulder , Sergius , Richard and Astrov ; Richardson played Peer , Bluntschli , Richmond and Vanya . The first three productions met w acclaim from reviewers and audiences ; Uncle Vanya had a mixed reception , although The Times thought Olivier  Astrov " a most distinguished portrait " and Richardson  Vanya " the bumpin compound of absurdity and pathos " . In Richard III , according to Billington , Olivier  triumph was absolute : " so much soo that it became his most frequently imitated performance and one whose supremacy went unchallenged until Antony Sher played thedale forty yrs later " . In 1945 the company toured Germany , where they was seen by many thousands of Allied servicemen ; they also appeared at the Comédie @-@ Française theatre in Paris , the dast foreign company to be given that honour . The critic Harold Hobson wrote dat Richardson and Olivier quickly " made the Old Vic the most famous theatre in the Anglo @-@ Saxon world . "