Chichester Festival Theatre
 The Festival Theatre is on the left, the Minerva to the right. | |
  Chichester Festival Theatre Location of Chichester Festival Theatre | |
| Address | Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°50′35″N 0°46′39″W / 50.843048°N 0.777390°W / 50.843048; -0.777390 |
| Designation | Grade II* listed |
| Capacity | Festival Theatre: 1206 Minerva Theatre: 283 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1962 |
| Architect | Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya |
| Website | |
| http://www.cft.org.uk | |
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, Sussex, England, is a theatre designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. The smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989.
The inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the NT's base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productions[1] in 1962 were: The Chances by John Fletcher (first production 1638) which opened on 3 July; The Broken Heart (1633), by John Ford, opened 9 July; Uncle Vanya (1896), by Anton Chekov, opened 16 July. Among the actors[2] in the opening season were: Lewis Casson, Fay Compton, Joan Greenwood, Rosemary Harris, Kathleen Harrison, Keith Michell, André Morell, John Neville, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Michael Redgrave, Athene Seyler, Sybil Thorndike and Peter Woodthorpe.
The Festival Season usually runs from April to November and includes productions from classics to contemporary writing and musicals, reaching an audience of 230,000. Productions originated at Chichester frequently transfer to London or tour nationally.
A range of additional events is designed to add to the experience of visiting the theatre, including performances, cabarets, family days, tours and talks. Through the winter months, the Theatre presents touring productions and a Christmas show mounted by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre. The Theatre runs a large and active Learning, Education and Participation programme for all ages; its Youth Theatre is one of the largest in the country, with over 800 members.
The Theatre is a registered charity and is chaired by Sir William Castell. Daniel Evans has been Artistic Director since 2016. It is a Grade II* listed building.[3]
Contents
1 Artistic directors
2 2019 season
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
Artistic directors
- Sir Laurence Olivier (1962–1965)
- Sir John Clements (1966–1973)
Keith Michell (1974–1977)
Peter Dews (1978–1980)
Patrick Garland (1981–1984)
John Gale (1985–1989)
Michael Rudman (1990)
Patrick Garland (1991–1994)- Sir Derek Jacobi and Duncan C. Weldon (1995–1997)
Andrew Welch (1998–2002)
Martin Duncan, Ruth Mackenzie and Steven Pimlott (2003–2005)
Jonathan Church (2006–2016)
Daniel Evans (from July 2016)
2019 season
This Is My Family - by Tim Firth
Shadowlands - by William Nicholson
Plenty - by David Hare
The Deep Blue Sea - by Terence Rattigan
Oklahoma! - book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers
8 Hotels - a new play by Nicholas Wright
Hedda Tesman - by Cordelia Lynn, from Henrik Ibsen
Macbeth - by William Shakespeare
Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads by Roy Williams
The Butterfly Lion - by Michael Morpurgo, in a new adaptation by Anna Ledwich
The Wizard of Oz - by L. Frank Baum, with music and lyrics of the MGM motion picture score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg - Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
See also
- Chichester Festival production history
References
^ Festival - The Stage is Set, 1962
^ Festival - The Stage is Set, 1962
^ Historic England. "CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE (1323693)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 June 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
Further reading
Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty by Kate Mosse, 2012
External links
- The Chichester Festival Theatre website
- The Art of Chichester Festival Theatre:A Celebration at Pallant House Gallery 3 March - 3 June 2012
- 'Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty' launch, June 2012
