CFT’S summer season unveiled
■ These are the stars and musicals that will top the bill
The Sound Of Music will be the big musical this summer as Chichester Festival Theatre unveils its summer season ahead.
It will be the last from the venue’s artistic director Daniel Evans who joins the RSC later this year. He is promising a season which sums up his years in charge: “It will be a big encapsulation of so many of the things that we have excelled at over the years in Chichester.
“I'm really delighted with the season but I have to admit that as I was coming in today I did have a massive pang of sadness and sorrow that this is the last one. Sadness because it has all been absolutely amazing. I've had the time of my life here.”
Performers this summer will include Eileen Atkins, Gina Beck, Rory Bremner, Sebastian Croft, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Joshua James, Danny Mac, Alexandra Roach, Zizi Strallen, Lia Williams, Greg Wise and Susan Wokoma.
The season’s two other musicals will be Assassins and Rock Follies. There will also be three new plays: Never Have I Ever by Deborah Frances-white, The Inquiry by Harry Davies and a new adaptation of The Jungle Book by Sonali Bhattacharyya for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre
The rest of the season will comprise great modern and classic dramas including: 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; and 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 will promenade Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream through West Dean Gardens, directed by Jon Pashley.
The Sound Of Music will be the big musical this summer as Chichester Festival Theatre today unveils the final season from the venue’s artistic director Daniel Evans.
Performers this summer will include Eileen Atkins, Gina Beck, Rory Bremner, Sebastian Croft, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Joshua James, Danny Mac, Alexandra Roach, Zizi Strallen, Lia Williams, Greg Wise and Susan Wokoma.
The season’s two other musicals will be Assassins and Rock Follies. There will also be three new plays: Never Have I Ever by Deborah Frances-white, The Inquiry by Harry Davies and a new adaptation of The Jungle
Book by Sonali Bhattacharyya for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre.
The rest of the season will comprise 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; Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge; and Chichester Festival Youth Theatre with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at West Dean Gardens.
Kathy Bourne, CFT executive director, 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. 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 and seven directors are making their Chichester debuts.”
Priority booking for Friends of CFT opens: Feb 25 (online/booking forms only); Feb 28 (phone/in person). General booking opens: March 4 (online only); March 7 (phone/in person). cft.org. uk; 01243 781312; tickets from £10