Given the excellent response to last year's "discovery day" at the National Theatre, we plan to close this year's Visits programme in July with a behind-the-scenes tour of a nearby playhouse that is one of the UK's leading producing theatres with a global reputation for its outstanding in-house productions. Many of these transfer to the West End or tour internationally.
Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT) was the brainchild of a local optician and former mayor who believed his city deserved a world-class theatre and campaigned tirelessly to crowdfund the project and achieve his dream. When CFT opened two years later, in 1962, it was the only modern thrust-stage (i.e. open-stage) theatre in the UK, a design that had not been used for theatres for centuries.
With its dramatic, cantilevered structure made of reinforced concrete, hexagonal design and cable-suspended roof, CFT is one of the most visually striking playhouses in the country and a fine example of Brutalist architecture, though not without its critics! Under the directorship of Sir Laurence Olivier, it provided the impetus for him to develop his newly established National Theatre company. Today, both houses are closely bound by a common ethos and a core belief that world-class theatre should be seen by the world.
During our 75-minute backstage tour, we will discover more about the CFT's development and gain insights into the inner workings of the theatre and the team of highly skilled professionals who, night after night, hidden from sight, spark the viewer's imagination, create the illusion and make the magic that is theatre.
After lunch, we will take our seats for a new production of Lerner & Loewe's enduringly popular musical My Fair Lady, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh. With its sparkling dialogue, brilliant lyrics, witty story and gorgeous costumes, this 20th-century masterpiece has been described as the perfect musical, but this is the first time that it has ever been produced at Chichester. What could be more loverly?
More information about the CFT and its summer programme is available here.
A theatre built by the community for the community. Find out more here about the CFT, its links to the National Theatre and its ethos.
For a first-hand account of the early days of the CFT, click here.
Planned programme for the day: TBC
9.00: Depart by coach from Hop Oast
10.00: Arrive Chichester Festival Theatre; time for tea/coffee
10.30: Backstage tour begins – 75 minutes in two groups
Till 14.00: Time for lunch at the theatre or in town
14.30: Matinée begins (running time TBC)
17.00: Coach departs Chichester TBC)
Cost: £74 pp. This includes the cost of coach hire + gratuity, a private guided backstage tour and seats in the first row of the Balcony (Row T) with an unimpeded view of the stage (special Group rate of £33 pp). Food and drinks are not included. A seating plan of the theatre is included in DOCUMENTS below.
