chichester-festival-theatre

Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962.

Leslie Evershed-Martin drew parallels between Chichester and the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario, and concluded that Chichester could sustain a theatre similar to the Stratford Festival. Evershed-Martin contacted Laurence Olivier via Tyrone Guthrie and offered him directorship of the new theatre. Olivier directed the theatre until 1966, when John Clements took over.

Sir Laurence Olivier (1962–1965) Sir John Clements (1966–1973) Keith Michell (1974–1977) Peter Dews (1978–1980) Patrick Garland (1981–1984) John Gale (1985–1989) Michael Rudman (1990) Patrick Garland (1991–1994) Sir Derek Jacobi and Duncan Weldon (1995–1997) Andrew Welch (1998–2002) Martin Duncan, Ruth Mackenzie and Steven Pimlott (2003–2005) Jonathan Church (2006–2016) Daniel Evans (2016–2023) Justin Audibert (2023–present)