Returning to London later in 1953 Gielgud took over management of the Lyric, Hammersmith, for a classical season of "Richard II", Congreve's "The Way of the World", and Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserv'd", directing the first, acting in the last, and doing both in the second. Feeling he was too old for Richard, he cast the young Paul Scofield; both the actor and the production were a critical and commercial success. During the season Gielgud was knighted in the 1953 Coronation Honours.