CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE ANNOUNCES
FESTIVAL 2023
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DANIEL EVANS’ FINAL SEASON INCLUDES:
FOUR WORLD PREMIERES
THREE MUSICALS
COMPANY INCLUDES EILEEN ATKINS, SAMUEL BARNETT, CARLY BAWDEN, GINA BECK, RORY BREMNER, SEBASTIAN CROFT, CARLY MERCEDES DYER, JOSHUA JAMES, DANNY MAC, ALEXANDRA ROACH, ZIZI STRALLEN, LIA WILLIAMS, GREG WISE, SUSAN WOKOMA
Chichester Festival Theatre’s Festival 2023 – the final season programmed by outgoing Artistic Director Daniel Evans – has today been announced by Daniel and Executive Director Kathy Bourne.
- Three musicals:
- THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s beloved musical, is produced at Chichester for the first time, with Gina Beck as Maria, directed by Adam Penford
- ASSASSINS, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, is directed by Polly Findlay; the cast includes Amy Booth-Steel, Luke Brady, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Harry Hepple, Nick Holder, Danny Mac, Sam Oladeinde and Jack Shalloo
- ROCK FOLLIES, a new musical by Chloë Moss with lyrics by Howard Schuman and music by Andy Mackay, is directed by Dominic Cooke with a cast including Samuel Barnett, Carly Bawden and Zizi Strallen
- Three new plays:
- NEVER HAVE I EVER by Deborah Frances-White, with a cast including Alexandra Roach, Greg Wise and Susan Wokoma, directed by Emma Butler
- THE INQUIRY by Harry Davies, directed by Joanna Bowman
- A new adaptation of THE JUNGLE BOOK by Sonali Bhattacharyya for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
- Great modern and classic dramas:
- Lia Williams and Joshua James in Noël Coward’s THE VORTEX, directed by Daniel Raggett
- Eileen Atkins and Sebastian Croft in Amy Herzog’s 4000 MILES, directed by Richard Eyre
- MOM, HOW DID YOU MEET THE BEATLES? by Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy, directed by Diyan Zora, in a UK premiere
- Rory Bremner in James Graham’s QUIZ, directed by Daniel Evans and Seán Linnen, prior to a UK tour
- Arthur Miller’s A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, directed by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart in a co-production with Headlong, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Rose Theatre
- Chichester Festival Youth Theatre promenade Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM through West Dean Gardens, directed by Jon Pashley
- Family Friendly shows and activities; live events, exhibitions and workshops; and the return of CFT Lates for 16+
- £10 tickets extended to the Minerva as well as the Festival Theatre; 9,000 £5 PROLOGUE tickets for 16 – 30 year olds
- Susan Stroman’s 2021 production of CRAZY FOR YOU plays at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, West End from June, while Steven Moffat’s THE UNFRIEND continues at the Criterion
Daniel Evans and Kathy Bourne said:
This year, we have an outstanding range of plays and musicals, including a handful of world premieres and renowned plays which have never been performed at CFT before. For example, we’ve never staged a play by the great Arthur Miller; nor have we staged Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most-loved musical. There is a rare outing of a play by US writer Adrienne Kennedy and, 50 years after his death, a new production of Noël Coward’s first big success. Contemporary, 20th century or classical, every piece has something to say about the world around us today.
‘A company of exceptional actors are already lining up to join us including Dame Eileen Atkins, Samuel Barnett, Carly Bawden, Gina Beck, Rory Bremner, Sebastian Croft, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Joshua James, Danny Mac, Alexandra Roach, Zizi Strallen, Lia Williams, Greg Wise and Susan Wokoma; and seven directors are making their Chichester debuts.’
Daniel Evans adds:
‘On a personal note, this is the seventh and last season I’ve programmed at Chichester. I’d like to thank the many thousands of freelance artists, creatives and technical staff who’ve brought them to life; CFT’s indefatigable staff; and of course our audiences, who are among the most supportive and adventurous theatregoers in the country. I know they will welcome my successor, Justin Audibert, with the same warmth that greeted my and Kathy’s own arrivals in this beautiful and unique theatre.’
FESTIVAL 2023 PRODUCTIONS – APRIL TO OCTOBER
Lia Williams Joshua James
THE VORTEX
By Noël Coward
Directed by Daniel Raggett
28 April – 20 May, Festival Theatre
The roaring twenties. A world in flux. The magnetic Florence Lancaster draws people to her like moths to a flame. But when her son Nicky arrives home from Paris with an unexpected fiancée and a secret, it sets off a chain of events which threatens to pull them all into a maelstrom.
Noël Coward’s brilliantly witty and stinging portrait of the darkness beneath the glittering surface of the Jazz Age is as vivid today as when it premiered, causing a sensation and catapulting its young writer to his first great success.
Daniel Raggett, nominee for the 2022 Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award, directs this new production in which Florence and Nicky Lancaster are played by mother and son, Lia Williams and Joshua James.
Lia Williams’s multi award-winning roles include Wallis Simpson in The Crown, Dr Cooper in His Dark Materials, and on stage Mary Stuart (Almeida & West End) and John Gabriel Borkman (The Bridge). Her critically-acclaimed production of Doubt was seen at Chichester last year.
Joshua James returns to the Festival Theatre where he appeared in the Young Chekhov trilogy as Nikolai in Platonov and Konstantin in The Seagull (for which he was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award), both also at the National Theatre.
The cast also include Priyanga Burford as Helen; her work includes Consent (National Theatre), The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), and TV’s Industry, Innocent and Press.
The Vortex will have set design by Joanna Scotcher, costume design by Evie Gurney, lighting design by Zoe Spurr, music and sound design by Giles Thomas, and casting by Lotte Hines CDG.
The production is sponsored by Close Brothers Asset Management.
Eileen Atkins Sebastian Croft
4000 MILES
By Amy Herzog
Directed by Richard Eyre
4 May – 10 June, Minerva Theatre
Late one night, 21-year-old Leo arrives without warning at his grandmother’s Manhattan apartment – the furthest point on a momentous bike ride across America. Vera is 91 and lives alone, her independence undimmed by the challenges of modern living. Baffled by each other at first, this odd couple slowly edge across the distance between them.
Amy Herzog’s award-winning drama – named Time magazine’s best play of 2012 – is a warm, wry and compassionate story about love, loss, memory and moving on.
Eileen Atkins makes a long-awaited return to Chichester as Vera. One of the UK’s most distinguished actors, last seen here in Vita and Virginia in 1992, her many screen roles include her BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning role in Cranford, Doc Martin and The Crown.
Sebastian Croft makes his CFT debut as Leo; he is best known for Netflix’s Heartstopper and Horrible Histories: The Movie for which he received a children’s BAFTA nomination. This year he will lead Amazon’s How To Date Billy Walsh. His theatre work includes Trevor Nunn’s production of King John (Rose Theatre).
The cast is completed by Nell Barlow, named a BAFTA Breakthrough Talent in 2022 and BIFA Best Newcomer 2021 for Sweetheart; and Elizabeth Chu (Lesbian Space Crime at Soho Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing UK tour).
Director Richard Eyre returns to Chichester following The Stepmother (2017) and 8 Hotels (2019). Formerly Director of the National Theatre, his recent films include The Children Act and Allelujah.
4000 Miles will have set and costume design by Peter McKintosh, lighting design by Peter Mumford, sound design by John Leonard, and casting by Ginny Schiller CDG.
The production is sponsored by Behrens Sharp.
4000 Miles is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. concordtheatricals.co.uk
ASSASSINS
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Directed by Polly Findlay
3 – 24 June, Festival Theatre
A surreal carnival. And a group of people who have one thing in common: they want to assassinate the President of the United States.
Some succeed, some fail. But there’s a prize for them all: a place in the history books.
John Wilkes Booth. Lee Harvey Oswald. Leon Czolgosz. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. John Hinckley. Charles Guiteau. Sara Jane Moore. Giuseppe Zangara. Samuel Byck. Men and women whose fervour took them to the very edge.
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Tony Award-winning biting musical comedy takes us on a daring, time-bending journey through American history.
A giant of musical theatre, celebrated for the inventive sophistication of his melodies and lyrics, Sondheim died in 2021. His landmark works also include Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd. John Weidman’s Tony Award-winning works include Contact as well two further collaborations with Sondheim, Road Show and Pacific Overtures.
Director Polly Findlay makes her CFT debut. Her recent productions include White Noise and A Number (Bridge Theatre), Beginning and Middle (National Theatre) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Donmar Warehouse).
The cast includes Amy Booth-Steel (Tammy Faye, The Magician’s Elephant) as Moore, Luke Brady (The Prince of Egypt, Sweeney Todd Festival 2011) as Zangara, Carly Mercedes Dyer (Olivier Award nominee and WhatsOnStage Award winner for Anything Goes) as Fromme, Harry Hepple (Hamilton, Follies) as Guiteau, Nick Holder (The Threepenny Opera, London Road) as Byck, Danny Mac (Sunset Boulevard, Pretty Woman The Musical) as Booth, Sam Oladeinde (Come From Away, A Christmas Carol) as Czolgosz and Jack Shalloo (Girl From The North Country, Groundhog Day) as Hinckley.
The designer will be Lizzie Clachan, and the choreographer, Neil Bettles; musical supervisor Richard John, musical director Jo Cichonska, lighting designer Richard Howell, sound designer Gregory Clarke, video designer Akhila Krishnan, fight director Kate Waters, and casting directors Charlotte Sutton CDG and Christopher Worrall.
Assassins is sponsored by Genesis Town Planning and Kuoni.
MOM, HOW DID YOU MEET THE BEATLES?
By Adrienne Kennedy and Adam P. Kennedy
Directed by Diyan Zora
16 June – 8 July, Minerva Theatre
Playwright Adrienne Kennedy impulsively leaves New York for London with her young son, intent on adapting John Lennon’s book ‘In His Own Write’ for the stage.
In the heady atmosphere of the Swinging ‘60s, she finds herself rubbing shoulders with a dizzying array of celebrities, including all four Beatles. And when her idols, Laurence Olivier – director of the National Theatre – and his influential literary manager Kenneth Tynan, along with actor Victor Spinetti, promise to produce her play, it seems like a dream come true. But slowly the stars seem to align in a different way.
Adrienne Kennedy’s autobiographical play – told in the form of a one-act, near-monologue to her son Adam – is a mesmerising and disquieting tale of a young Black woman’s betrayal at the hands of the establishment.
Diyan Zora, winner of the 2021 Genesis Futures Award, directs.
The creative team will include designer Anisha Fields and sound designer George Dennis; the casting director is Lotte Hines CDG.
The production is sponsored by Bishops Printers.
Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd concordtheatricals.co.uk
Gina Beck
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
Directed by Adam Penford
10 July – 3 September, Festival Theatre
Austria, 1938. Free-spirited nun Maria is sent away from her abbey to become governess to the widowed Captain von Trapp’s seven children. She brings music and laughter back to his unfeeling household, but the future holds more joy and jeopardy than she ever dreamed possible.
The Sound of Music was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s last and perhaps most treasured musical, and is now produced at Chichester for the first time. The glorious score is a box of delights, from Climb Ev’ry Mountain, My Favorite Things and Edelweiss to Do-Re-Mi and The Sound of Music itself. This brand-new production of the original stage musical is directed by Adam Penford, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse, where his productions include Piaf and The Madness of George III; and designed by Robert Jones (Murder on the Orient Express, The Unfriend, Oklahoma!).
Gina Beck, whose performance as Nellie Forbush in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific in 2021 was also acclaimed in London and on a UK tour, returns to play Maria.
The choreographer will be Lizzi Gee; the musical supervisor, Gareth Valentine; musical director Matt Samer; original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett; orchestral adaptation by Larry Blank; lighting designer, Johanna Town; sound designer, Paul Groothuis; casting director Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting; and children’s casting director Verity Naughton CDG.
The Sound of Music is sponsored by R.L. Austen and Greenwood Wealth Solutions.
The Sound of Music is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organisation concordtheatricals.co.uk
ROCK FOLLIES
A new musical by Chloë Moss
Lyrics by Howard Schuman, music by Andy Mackay
Directed by Dominic Cooke
24 July – 26 August, Minerva Theatre
Before the Spice Girls, Sugababes and The Saturdays…
It’s the 1970s and feminism is on the rise. Fed up with the male-dominated entertainment industry, Anna, Dee and Q take the future into their own hands and form a rock band – the ironically named ‘Little Ladies’. And so begins the musical helter-skelter ride of a lifetime. Can principles and ambition co-exist? And can their friendship survive in the dog-eat-dog world of rock?
With a book by Chloë Moss and original songs from the ground-breaking TV series by Howard Schuman and Andy Mackay, this punchy new musical is a rousing, riotous rollercoaster of woman power!
Dominic Cooke, former Artistic Director of the Royal Court, directs; his recent work includes Good (West End), his multi award-winning production of Sondheim’s Follies (National Theatre), and on screen, The Courier.
Carly Bawden, who appeared in CFT’s Concert in the Park in 2021 and whose theatre credits include Julie Jordan in Carousel (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Romantics Anonymous (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), wonder.land (National Theatre) and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Sheffield Crucible), plays Anna. Zizi Strallen returns to Chichester (The Music Man Festival 2008) to play Q; Her West End appearances include the title role in Mary Poppins (for which she received an Olivier Award nomination) and the NT’s Follies.
The cast also includes Samuel Barnett, whose stage credits include Olivier and Tony-nominated roles in The History Boys (also on film) and Twelfth Night; and on screen, The Lady in the Van and Twenty Twelve; Tamsin Carroll (Barnum Festival 2013; 2:22, Hex and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in the West End); and Fred Haig (Tammy Faye, A Christmas Carol, The Courier).
Rock Follies will have set design by Vicki Mortimer, costume design by Kinnetia Isidore, choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, musical supervision and arrangements by Nigel Lilley, musical direction by Toby Higgins, lighting design by Paule Constable, and casting by Pippa Ailion CDG and Natalie Gallacher CDG.
Rock Follies is based on the television series written by Howard Schuman from an original idea of the Rock Bottom Group (Diane Langton, Gaye Brown and Annabel Leventon) and Don Fraser.
Rock Follies was commissioned and developed by Fictionhouse, Longshot Films and Elpis Theatre Productions Ltd.
The production sponsor is ITD Consultants.
Music used by kind permission of Universal Music Publishing.
Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jon Pashley
4 – 19 August, West Dean Gardens
Oh hell! To choose love by another’s eyes.
Faced with unwanted marriages and parents who don’t listen, four teenage lovers flee the city. But in the forest things are no better: the Fairy King and Queen are at war and a bunch of wannabe actors struggle to get their show off the ground.
In this enchanted, topsy-turvy world, their dream of escape threatens to turn into a nightmare. Friends fall out, transformations abound, and magic piles on mayhem.
The renowned Chichester Festival Youth Theatre perform a fresh take on Shakespeare’s bewitching romantic comedy, promenading through the beautifully atmospheric setting of West Dean Gardens near Chichester, directed by Jon Pashley.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be designed by Abigail Caywood; the composer, arranger and musical director will be Michael Henry, and the fight director Bethan Clark.
For ages 7+
The production is sponsored by Chichester College.
Alexandra Roach Greg Wise Susan Wokoma
NEVER HAVE I EVER
A new play by Deborah Frances-White
Directed by Emma Butler
1 – 30 September, Minerva Theatre
Jacq and Kas’s boutique restaurant has gone bust, and telling their oldest friends Adaego and her rich husband Tobin that his investment is toast is only the start of the evening. Cash, class, identity and infidelity are all on the menu. As the last of the expensive wine flows, a dangerous drinking game reveals long-hidden truths and provokes an unspeakable dare.
This explosive, savagely funny first play by Deborah Frances-White, comedian, screenwriter and host of the global hit podcast The Guilty Feminist, brilliantly skewers the contradictions of contemporary society, and the shifting sands of power and sexual politics.
Emma Butler was formerly resident director at the Almeida Theatre; her directing credits include Camelot (London Palladium), Hole (Jermyn Street Theatre) and Echoes (UK and international tour).
The cast includes Alexandra Roach (Utopia, No Offence, The Light in the Hall), Greg Wise (The Crown, Sense and Sensibility, A Private War) and Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes, Cheaters, Chewing Gum).
The designer is Frankie Bradshaw; lighting designer, Ryan Day; and casting director Lotte Hines CDG.
Contains strong language. Ages 15+
Never Have I Ever is sponsored by Wiley.
Rory Bremner
QUIZ
By James Graham
Directed by Daniel Evans and Seán Linnen
22 – 30 September, Festival Theatre
Is Quiz:
A) A provocative re-examination of the conviction of Charles Ingram, ‘the Coughing Major’, his wife Diana and accomplices, for duping the world’s most popular TV quiz show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, out of £1,000,000?
B) Another chance to see James Graham’s smash-hit comedy, which premiered at Chichester in 2017 before transferring to the West End, being nominated for two Olivier Awards and becoming a hit TV drama?
C) The opportunity to see Rory Bremner, Britain’s top satirical impressionist, playing Chris Tarrant?
D) A highly entertaining, razor-sharp analysis of the 21st century’s dangerous new attitude to truth and lies?
Prepare to cast your vote for the ultimate 50:50: guilty or not guilty?
This revised version of James Graham’s celebrated comedy is directed by Daniel Evans and Seán Linnen and opens a brand-new UK tour at Chichester. Graham’s multi award-winning plays also include Best of Enemies, This House, Ink and the TV series Sherwood.
Quiz is designed by Robert Jones, with lighting design by Ryan Day, music and sound design by Ben and Max Ringham, video design by Tim Reid and casting by Ginny Schiller CDG.
Following its opening at Chichester, the production will tour to Newcastle Theatre Royal, Glasgow King’s Theatre, Cardiff New Theatre, Salford Lowry Theatre, Norwich Theatre Royal, Bromley Churchill Theatre, Canterbury Marlowe Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal and Birmingham Alexandra Theatre. Dates and details at quiztheplay.co.uk
At Chichester, the production is sponsored by Henry Adams.
QUIZ is a fictional imagination based on real events which took place in 2001 following an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? It is not in any way connected with the makers of the programme or any of the individuals portrayed. The television programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is produced by 2waytraffic.
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
By Arthur Miller
Directed by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart
A co-production with Headlong, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Rose Theatre
6 – 28 October, Festival Theatre
Every man’s got somebody that he loves, heh? But sometimes… there’s too much. You know? There’s too much and it goes where it mustn’t.
On the Brooklyn waterfront, where the fierce passions of ancestral Sicily linger, the orphaned Catherine falls for her handsome, newly arrived cousin Rodolfo – an illegal immigrant. Their romance is encouraged by her aunt Beatrice but viewed with revulsion by her uncle, Eddie Carbone, who harbours an unspoken desire. As tensions rise, their story spins inexorably beyond control.
Arthur Miller’s visceral and compelling drama is a timeless masterpiece.
This new co-production with Headlong, Octagon Theatre Bolton and Rose Theatre is directed by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart, whose recent work includes Paradise Now! (Bush Theatre).
At Chichester, the production is sponsored by The Portsmouth Grammar School.
THE INQUIRY
A new play by Harry Davies
Directed by Joanna Bowman
13 October – 4 November, Minerva Theatre
MP Arthur Gill is one of Westminster’s rising stars. Still in his 30s, he’s just become the Secretary of State for Justice, assuming the role of Lord Chancellor too; and with a leadership race on the horizon, he’s a favourite to be the next Prime Minister.
But there’s a problem. An inquiry headed by Lady Justice Deborah Wingate is on the brink of publishing its findings about a public health disaster: a scandal that happened on Gill’s watch when he was environment minister. As leaks multiply and the waters grow murkier, how far will he go to hide his past and protect his future?
The Inquiry is a gripping drama about the pernicious collision between politics, justice and ambition.
Harry Davies is a writer and an investigative reporter for The Guardian; this is his first play. Joanna Bowman (Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads, Festival 2022) directs.
The Inquiry will be designed by Max Jones; the casting director is Charlotte Sutton CDG.
The production is sponsored by Chichester Harbour Hotel.
Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
THE JUNGLE BOOK
By Rudyard Kipling
Adapted by Sonali Bhattacharyya
16 – 31 December, Festival Theatre
Once upon a time a little boy finds himself lost in the jungle, in hiding from the fearsome tiger Shere Khan. He finds shelter with a wolf pack who name him ‘Mowgli the Frog’ and raise him like one of their own cubs.
Baloo, the fun-seeking bear, and Bagheera, the serious panther, try to teach him the law of the jungle, but the more Mowgli the learns, the more confusing all these rules become.
He’s stolen by the Bandar-log monkeys, but his friends will always rescue him, even when Shere Khan tries to banish him from the jungle forever. Mowgli’s adventures are far from over…
This brand new stage adaptation by Sonali Bhattacharyya, written specially for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre, spins Rudyard Kipling’s beloved tale into exciting, pulsating life, with a huge cast of characters from Akela, the leader of the wolf pack to Ikki the spiky porcupine and Mao the strutting peacock.
A coming of age story about the desire for freedom that beats in the heart of every child.
For ages 7+.
The Jungle Book is sponsored by Chichester College.
FESTIVAL 2023 EVENTS
A lively programme of events and activities will complement the shows on stage.
Join Deborah Frances-White for a live recording of The Guilty Feminist podcast, and also for a practical workshop on Stage Presence and Confidence. Delve deeper into the world of Noël Coward with a free exhibition celebrating his work, and into the work of Arthur Miller over a weekend workshop on the great American playwright.
We continue the conversations around gender equality in our Fizz and Feminism events, and invite you to a musical experience on the South Downs in The Hills Are Alive. Free Pre- and Post-Show Talks, with the director and cast members, are held for each production.
A Summer Gala performance of The Sound of Music on 28 July will support CFT’s Light a Spark fundraising campaign helping more people experience theatre for the first time.
CFT Lates, our monthly series of late night entertainment for ages 16+, returns with music, improv, comedy, drag and cabaret, while special Prologue Events for 16-30 year-olds include the chance to meet James Graham and Daniel Evans and the casts of The Sound of Music and Rock Follies, as well as a writing workshop with author of The Inquiry, Harry Davies, and a series of backstage masterclasses.
Family Friendly performances and activities range from free Family Fun sessions and storytelling to shows including Truth & Tails and The Bug Hotel, and the return of Fold Our City.