In late 1945 and early 1946 Gielgud toured for ENSA in the Middle and Far East with "Hamlet" and Coward's "Blithe Spirit". During this tour he played Hamlet on stage for the last time. He was Raskolnikoff in a stage version of "Crime and Punishment", in the West End in 1946 and on Broadway the following year. Agate thought it the best thing Gielgud had done so far, other than Hamlet. Between these two engagements Gielgud toured North America in "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Love for Love". Edith Evans was tired of the role of Lady Bracknell, and refused to join him; Margaret Rutherford played the part to great acclaim. Gielgud was in demand as a director, with six productions in 1948–49. They included "The Heiress" in 1949, when he was brought in at the last moment to direct Richardson and Ashcroft, saving what seemed a doomed production; it ran for 644 performances. His last big hit of the 1940s was as Thomas Mendip in "The Lady's Not for Burning", which he also directed. The London cast included the young Claire Bloom and Richard Burton, who went with Gielgud when he took the piece to the US the following year.