Matthew Bourne directs Oliver!, Lucy Bailey directs The Other Boleyn Girl, Anna Ledwich directs Coram Boy, Justin Audibert directs Redlands and The Caretaker, Jon Pashley directs Cinderella, Holly Race Roughan directs The House Party, Jonathan Kent directs The Promise, Jeremy Herrin directs The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Paul Hunter directs The Cat and the Canary, Dale Rooks directs Hey! Christmas Tree.
Stars include Rachelle Diedericks, Philip Franks, Adam Gillen, Shanay Holmes, Billy Jenkins, Alex Kingston, Simon Lipkin, Freya Mavor, Ian McDiarmid, Will Merrick, Nadia Parkes, Lucy Phelps, Jack Riddiford, Aaron Sidwell, and Andrew Woodall.
Chichester Festival Theatre has revealed its new season for 2024, the first by its new Artistic Director Justin Audibert.
There are an impressive seven world premieres in the line-up, plus a new revival of Lionel Bart’s iconic musical Oliver! (8 July – 7 September 2024), directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, in a “new revision” by Cameron Mackintosh. [Read more about this new production of Oliver! here]. The show will star Simon Lipkin, Shanay Holmes, Aaron Sidwell, Billy Jenkins, and Philip Franks.
Alongside Oliver!, Chichester’s Festival Theatre venue will see productions of The Other Boleyn Girl (19 April – 11 May 2024) by Mike Poulton, based on Philippa Gregory’s novel, directed by Lucy Bailey; Coram Boy (24 May – 15 June 2024), adapted by Helen Edmundson, based on the 18th century adventure novel by Jamila Gavin, and directed by Anna Ledwich; Redlands (20 September – 18 October 2024), a new play by Charlotte Jones, inspired by the Rolling Stones’ Chichester trial, directed by Justin Audibert; and Chichester Festival Youth Theatre will perform in a new retelling of Cinderella (17 – 31 December 2024) by Philip Wilson, with music by Jason Carr, directed by Jon Pashley.
In their Minerva Theatre space, they will present The House Party (3 May – 1 June 2024), by Laura Lomas, a new adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, directed by Holly Race Roughan, in a co-production with Headlong in association with Frantic Assembly; a revival of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker [Read more] (8 June – 13 July 2024), directed by Justin Audibert and starring Ian McDiarmid; The Promise (19 July – 17 August 2024), a new play by Paul Unwin on the pioneering post-war Labour government, directed by Jonathan Kent; the first John le Carré novel to be adapted for the stage – The Spy Who Came In From The Cold [Read more] (23 August – 21 September 2024), adapted by David Eldridge and directed by Jeremy Herrin; The Cat and the Canary (27 September – 26 October 2024), adapted by Carl Grose from the play by John Willard, directed by Paul Hunter and co-produced with Told by an Idiot; and a new Christmas story by Michael Morpurgo called Hey! Christmas Tree (7 – 29 December 2024), written for the stage by Vicki Berwick and directed by Dale Rooks.
Justin Audibert and Chichester’s Executive Director Kathy Bourne said in a joint statement: “The Chichester audience is renowned for their sense of adventure as well as their appreciation of quality and tradition, and that’s what this season aims to honour. As always, there’s a spectacular summer musical, an exciting range of world premieres, and modern masterpieces too. We travel through English history – from the Tudors to the present – through unsung heroes and rarely told stories. We’re making maximum use of the Festival Theatre’s epic quality, with bold, rich dramas that tell vivid stories and lend themselves to music and spectacle. The Minerva brings us into intimate close-up, allowing us to eavesdrop on startling and evocative events and characters. We’re delighted to be working with stellar directors, writers and co-producers, and already have some wonderful actors lined up to join us. Our commitment to accessibility is paramount: we’re increasing the number and location of our more affordable seats (including 13,000 at £10 across the season), and offering generous discounts for audiences booking multiple productions, alongside our £5 Prologue seats for ages 16-30. We’re also excited to launch our plans for The Nest, a new space for emerging and community artists, in 2025; and to have appointed the brilliant Miranda Cromwell and Hannah Joss as Associate Directors. We are so lucky to have such a loyal and supportive audience and look forward to seeing you this year.”
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