Chichester Festival Theatre unveils sparkling autumn season

In a week which has seen a second wave of coronavirus confirmed, the CFT remains hopeful the autumn season will go ahead as planned but is monitoring the situation.

If all goes well, the CFT this autumn will be offering drama, music, comedy and cabaret – including the venue’s very first live streaming – in a major boost to the city and its economy.

Socially distanced and with every possible COVID precaution in place, the autumn season will boast performers including Michael Ball, Sheila Hancock, Patricia Routledge, Rich Hall, Suzi Ruffell, Russell Kane, Joe Stilgoe and Henry Goodman. As planned, Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s production of Pinocchio will be the Christmas show, performed by two separate casts of 30.

Following the latest advice, the CFT is planning on a socially-distanced audience of around 600, around half of full capacity. They stress government rules and guidelines prevalent at the time will be strictly adhered to.

Chichester Festival Theatre artistic director Daniel Evans is relishing the moment he will feel simultaneously “exhilarated, gladdened and hugely relieved” – the moment the CFT autumn season opens “after six long months of our theatre being dark and empty.”

The season will include:

• Sarah Kane’s Crave, directed by Tinuke Craig, staged in a socially distanced Festival Theatre for ten performances and live streamed to digital audiences

• For Christmas, a series of festive concerts, followed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre in a new version of Pinocchio by Anna Ledwich, directed by Dale Rooks

• Michael Ball, Sheila Hancock and Patricia Routledge in conversation with Edward Seckerson

• Cabaret and comedy including Frisky and Mannish, The Black Cat Cabaret, Barely Methodical Troupe, Rich Hall, Suzi Ruffell, Russell Kane and Rosie Jones

• Music ranging from a celebration of Sondheim with West End stars, to a song recital by Kate Royal and a portrait of Rachmaninov with Henry Goodman and Lucy Parham

Daniel said: “In putting together this mix of drama, music, cabaret and comedy, we hope there is something to entice people of all ages to experience once more the uniquely uplifting exhilaration of live performance. The season includes some distinguished names in drama and music, alongside ground-breaking contemporary performers.”

"It will be a different kind of season to usual, much more home-produced with some important visitors.

“We’ve worked long and hard to put all the necessary measures in place for our audiences’ and artists’ health and comfort and to make their visit COVID-safe. While social distancing is in place, we are having to explore other forms of live performance to ensure the theatre’s future sustainability. For now, we are celebrating that Chichester Festival Theatre’s doors are opening again.”

The season begins with:

• Crave by Sarah Kane, directed by Tinuke Craig, Festival Theatre, October 29- November 7; live stream October 31-November 7. Originally due to play in the Spiegeltent this autumn, the play will be staged to a live, socially distanced audience in the Festival Theatre and – in a first for Chichester – simultaneously live-streamed to global digital audiences. In a damaged world, four characters search for the light. Angry, funny, defiant, kind and cruel, Crave comes promised as a “deeply personal meditation on the meaning of love.”

• Celebrating Sondheim: Sunday In The Park With Daniel, Festival Theatre, November 1, 3pm and 7pm. Following the success of Concert in the Park, CFT artistic director Daniel will host a cornucopia of music and song to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday. He will be joined on the Festival Theatre stage by stars from the West End to perform numbers from some of Sondheim’s major and lesser-known works. Proceeds from this fundraising concert will support the CFT’s work with vulnerable young people.

The season continues with:

• Facing The Music, Festival Theatre, November 11, 18 and 25, 2.30pm. Three performers join writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson to discuss their lives in musical theatre: Patricia Routledge – November 11; Sheila Hancock – November 18; and Michael Ball – November 25.

• Music For November Nights, Festival Theatre, November 11, 18 and 25, 7.30pm

• I’ll Tell You How The Sun Rose: A song for each hour of the day, November 11. Soprano Kate Royal brings the UK premiere of a new song recital programme to Chichester, a selection of 24 songs, by Mahler, Liszt, Schumann, Vaughan Williams, Britten and many more.

• Elégie: Rachmaninov – A Heart In Exile, November 18. Olivier Award-winning actor Henry Goodman returns to Chichester with concert pianist Lucy Parham. Elégie chronicles the life of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov in words and music.

• Joe Stilgoe – Out Of The Shed, November 25. After performing 67 online shows to over 150,000 worldwide viewers during lockdown. Joe Stilgoe has emerged from his shed with a new intimate show.

• Frisky And Mannish: PopLab Festival Theatre, November 12, 8pm. Cult musical comedy duo Frisky and Mannish bring their latest extravaganza to Chichester. Join them in their PopLab to peek down the microscope at all their latest research projects.

• A Night At The Musicals: Le Gateau Chocolat & Jonny Woo, Festival Theatre, November 13 and 14, 8pm. Following two sell-out shows in last year’s Chichester Spiegeltent, Olivier Award-winning Le Gateau Chocolat and Queen of the Alternative Drag scene Jonny Woo take to the Festival Theatre stage.

• Comedy Nights, Festival Theatre, November 17 and 24, 7.30pm. Rich Hall, Suzi Ruffell, Andrew Ryan, November 17. Russell Kane, Rosie Jones, Charlie Baker, November 24.

• The Black Cat Cabaret: Salon Des Artistes, Festival Theatre, November 19-21, 8pm. Salon des Artistes is an evening of five-star variety from London’s much-loved bohemian show troupe The Black Cat Cabaret, returning to Chichester following their-sell-out appearances at last year’s Spiegeltent season.

• Barely Methodical Troupe: Shift Festival Theatre, November 26-28, Thu & Fri 7pm, Sat 3pm & 7pm. Barely Methodical Troupe are at the forefront of a new kind of highly entertaining physical performance. Their sold-out production Bromance at the Spiegeltent last year drew rave reviews from audiences of all ages; this is a new chance to catch this ground-breaking company. Shift explores shifting perceptions and realities through power-based acrobatics performed mixing show-stopping circus tricks with the emotional punch of theatre. Ages 8+.

• A Merry Little Christmas Celebration, Festival Theatre, November 30-December 3, Mon-Wed 7.30pm, Thu 2.30pm & 7.30pm. A festive evening of seasonal words and music. West End singers including Rebecca Trehearn, matched with five musicians, will join CFT artistic director Daniel Evans and a special guest to sing a range of traditional carols and share some favourite yuletide poems and prose with some surprises.

• Chichester Festival Youth Theatre: Pinocchio by Anna Ledwich, from the original novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, December 12-31.

Priority booking for Friends of Chichester Festival Theatre opens: Wednesday, September 30 from 9am online, by phone from 12 noon

General booking opens: Friday, October 2 from 9am online, by phone from 12 noon

cft.org.uk; 01243 781312; tickets from £10

Prologue: £5 tickets for 16-30s; sign up for free at cft.org.uk/prologue.

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