The greatest Shakespearean actor of his time, Laurence Olivier, and his wife and co-star Vivien Leigh, created a minor sensation when they landed at Paraparaumu airport, north of Wellington, in 1948. They were on a nationwide tour of New Zealand with their London-based company, the Old Vic. It was the first time a theatre company had toured New Zealand entirely by aircraft. Five planes were used to transport the cast, props and scenery of their production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The school for scandal.