It’s the hottest day on record, the south coast swelters as we all look for a way to cool off… and on stage at Chichester Festival Theatre it is hotter still as their big summer musical is launched. So as I write this I’m thankful for two things – the air-conditioning that was added in […]
Crave @ Chichester Festival Theatre
We live in difficult times, cut off from friends and family. It often seems nearly impossible to comprehend returning to what we once thought normal. As such Chichester Festival Theatre’s decision to salvage Crave – a bleak, difficult, dark piece by Sarah Kane – from their summer season and put it on in the main […]
Macbeth @ Chichester Festival Theatre
Macbeth has ever been one of Shakespeare’s plays to split opinion. The fact it has a great plot and some juicy monologues leads some to love it, while others will point out that the central character is disjointed and, for a relatively simple plot, there seem to be a lot of filler scenes.
Oklahoma! @ Chichester Festival Theatre
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow… The sun was shining on Chichester yesterday for press night as we arrived for the Festival Theatre’s summer musical, always a highlight of the theatrical calendar as they revisit a classic and more often than not find something fresh and new in it. This year they’re taking […]
Plenty @ Chichester Festival Theatre
David Hare’s Plenty caused quite the stir when it was first staged in the late 70s. The story of a woman who found herself in war and then lost that sense of self in the return to normality seemed to strike a nerve and now, as we remember one of the greatest pushes of the […]
Shadowlands @ Chichester Festival Theatre
Shadowlands, the William Nicholson play that charts the story of C.S. Lewis’ correspondence-turned-relationship with the American poet Joy Gresham, is such a perfect fit for the Chichester audience it’s almost a surprise it isn’t a regular feature here. “jack” Lewis’ evolution from Oxford don debating theology to heartbroken widower is a wonderful through line on […]
This Is My Family @ The Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Clare Burt, Sheila Hancock and Kirsty MacLaren. Credit: Johan Persson/ When I arrived at Chichester Festival Theatre last night to see the first production of this year’s season I was uncharacteristically unprepared. I’m normally that person who meticulously researches every little detail of a show before seeing it but like the changing of a season […]
Me and My Girl @ Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre’s summer musical is always hotly anticipated and this year is no different. Me and My Girl, set to star Matt Lucas as barrow boy turned peer Bill Snibson. Sadly, as we’re informed just before the start of the show Lucas has been ordered by a throat specialist to rest and with a […]
The Weir @ The Minerva, Chichester
It’s the simplest of structures for a play. A small group of people take turns telling each other stories. Nothing ground-breaking in the premise. Add a setting – a village pub in rural Ireland, a cast of 5, four local men and a woman new to the locale and give the stories a whiff of […]
The Play That Goes Wrong @ Chichester Festival Theatre
We sent Emma van Kooperen to Chichester Festival Theatre to find out just what keeps going wrong as Mischief Theatre take on a murder mystery by way of Monty Python…