The new season, which which opens in April, includes five world premieres, two musicals, and major revivals of great modern dramas.
Chichester Festival Theatre (CFT) in West Sussex is one of the UK’s flagship theatres, renowned for the exceptionally high standard of its productions as well as its work with the community and young people.
The Festival Theatre’s bold thrust stage and airy auditorium is the perfect home for epic plays and classic summer musicals – from the gloriously exuberant to the powerfully dramatic.
This year’s classic summer musical will be Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved South Pacific – never before staged at CFT. Festival 2020 also brings Brecht’s powerful The Life of Galileo followed by The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie based on Muriel Spark’s much-loved novel.
Chichester’s world-renowned novelist Kate Mosse has adapted her own book The Taxidermist’s Daughter, set in historic Chichester; and Sondheim and Weidman’s darkly comic musical Assassins marks the composer’s 90th year.
The intimate Minerva Theatre offers a feast of new and modern drama including The Unfriend, an original new play written by Steven Moffat and directed by Mark Gatiss, an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s great novel The Long Song; and another new play by US playwright Christopher Shinn, The Narcissist. Two comedies, Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, complete the line-up.
Among the excellent 2020 acting company are Amanda Abbington, Frances Barber, Gina Beck, Richard Coyle, Lisa Dillon, Henry Goodman, Rob Houchen, Julian Ovenden, Reece Shearsmith and Cherrelle Skeete.
Situated in the historic cathedral city of West Sussex between the South Downs and the sea, the theatre is just a five-minute walk from the bustling town centre, a 20 minute drive from Portsmouth and less than an hour from Brighton. With its light and spacious foyers and welcoming café, bars and restaurants, all with lovely views over Oaklands Park, Chichester is one of the country’s most loved and lively theatres and a wonderful place for group visits.
Group bookings for Festival 2020 open on Thursday 27th February.
Full details are available at cft.org.uk/groups, or you can call its award-winning Box Office team 01243 812909 or email groups@cft.org.uk.
