The Old Vic series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened. The Old Vic is the crucible of many of the performing arts companies and theatres in London today. It was the name of a repertory company that was based at the theatre and formed (along with the Chichester Festival Theatre) the core of the National Theatre of Great Britain on its formation in 1963, under Laurence Olivier. The National Theatre remained at the Old Vic until new premises were constructed on the
Val May Peterhouse, Cambridge before studying at the London Old Vic Theatre School under Michel Saint-Denis. His national service was in the Royal Navy. Val May's first professional engagement was in 1950, when he directed Jean Cocteau's "The Typewriter" at the Watergate Theatre in London. He spent three years at the Dundee Repertory Theatre as assistant to the artistic director and became artistic director of the Ipswich Theatre in 1953. From 1957 to 1961 he was artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse. May directed the London Old Vic's production of "Richard II" in 1959. Also in 1959, the Nottingham company's production of