In 1947, together with Benthall, Helpmann took over the artistic direction of the Duchess Theatre in the West End of London. They presented a revival of John Webster's tragedy "The White Devil" with Helpmann as the villainous Flamineo and Rawlings as his equally villainous sister. This was well received but their next production, a revival of Leonid Andreyev's "He Who Gets Slapped", quickly folded. In the same year Helpmann worked on the film "The Red Shoes", which he and Leonid Massine choreographed and appeared in. Helpmann joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company at Stratford-upon-Avon for the 1948 season, playing the title role in "King John", Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice" and alternating with Paul Scofield in a new production of "Hamlet".