 Throughout the war Tyrone Guthrie had <unk> to keep the Old Vic company going , even after German bombing in 1942 left the theatre a near @-@ ruin . A small troupe toured the provinces , with Sybil Thorndike at its head . By 1944 , with the tide of the war turning , Guthrie felt it time to re @-@ establish the company in a London base and invited Richardson to head it . Richardson made it a condition of accepting that he should share the acting and management in a triumvirate . Initially he proposed Gielgud and Olivier as his colleagues , but the former declined , saying , " It would be a disaster , you would have to spend your whole time as referee between Larry and me . " It was finally agreed that the third member would be the stage director John Burrell . The Old Vic governors approached the Royal Navy to secure the release of Richardson and Olivier ; the Sea Lords consented , with , as Olivier put it , " a <unk> and lack of reluctance which was positively <unk> . " 
