Chichester Festival Theatre announces 2025 schedule

Including five world and two UK premieres, two musicals, and masterpieces from world drama, Chichester Festival Theatre’s Festival 2025 is packed with delights. Highlights include Mark Addy, Natalie Dormer, Beverley Knight, Tom Rosenthal, Jenna Russell and Giles Terera. Directors making their Chichester debuts include Gregory Doran, Katy Rudd, Phillip Breen, Monique Touko, Kathleen Marshall, Hannah Joss, Anthony Lau and Roy Alexander Weise.

Once again there’s a packed programme of musicals. Kathleen Marshall directs and choreographs a brand new production of Irving Berlin’s classic tap extravaganza Top Hat. A new musical, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, adapted by Rachel Joyce from her bestselling novel, with music and lyrics by Passenger, directed by Katy Rudd, starring Mark Addy and Jenna Russell

The World premieres include Gogol’s sparkling satire The Government Inspector seeing a new adaptation by Phil Porter, directed by Gregory Doran and starring actor and comedian Tom Rosenthal. Choir is a new play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti celebrating music and togetherness, directed by Hannah Joss, while Safe Space is a new play by Jamie Bogyo; delving into volatile campus politics, directed by Roy Alexander Weise

Classic and modern dramas come in the form of a new adaptation of Tolstoy’s romantic masterpiece Anna Karenina, written and directed by Phillip Breen and starring Natalie Dormer. Beverley Knight stars in Marie and Rosetta by George Brant, directed by Monique Touko in a co-production with Rose Theatre and ETT Giles Terera plays the title role in Hamlet, directed by Justin Audibert in Chichester’s first ever production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, while William Golding’s compelling adventure Lord of the Flies has been adapted by Nigel Williams and directed by Anthony Lau.

There’s plenty of great offerings for family audience as well. The first stage production of Matt Haig’s A Boy Called Christmas, adapted by Philip Wilson with music by Tom Brady, is being performed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre to mark their 40^th anniversary and directed by Dale Rooks. Stiles and Drewe’s The Three Little Pigs is a new co-production with the Unicorn Theatre for young families at Christmas

Looking ahead, The Nest, a new studio space for work by emerging artists, creative development and community projects, will open in summer 2025 after a successful fundraising campaign.

There’ll be 12,000 £10 tickets across the season, with 9,000 £5 Prologue tickets for 16 – 30 year olds, to mean theatre can be brought within reach of everyone, along with numerous off-stage events, exhibitions, free live music, family activities and the celebrated CFT Lates evenings.

Justin Audibert and Kathy Bourne said: £We’re delighted to share our new season, which aims to include all the ingredients we know our audiences love – including, of course, an unmissable summer musical. In fact, music of all kinds features strongly in several productions, from stimulating new work to classic masterpieces from the world stage.

‘A sense of lives and society in flux is central to many of the dramas this season, with vivid characters facing momentous change – making for compelling storytelling.

‘We’re continuing our policy of maximum theatricality in the Festival Theatre, with large casts and striking designs; while in the intimate Minerva, we have four premieres as well as Chichester’s first ever production of Hamlet.  

‘We will welcome two Resident Assistant Directors, Becca Chadder and Nathanael Campbell; and this summer, we’ll launch our exciting new studio space, The Nest. December brings the first stage adaptation of Matt Haig’s contemporary classic, A Boy Called Christmas, which will mark our brilliant Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s 40^th anniversary

‘It’s a pleasure to be working in partnership with Rose Theatre, ETT, the Unicorn Theatre and – looking ahead to 2026 – the RSC and Roald Dahl Story Company on our forthcoming co-production of The BFG. Meanwhile, Oliver!, our collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, continues its triumphant run in the West End; and our co-production with Headlong, The House Party is on tour in the UK – taking Chichester’s work to audiences across the country.’

For full details on these shows, and the full programme for 2025, head to: www.cft.org.uk

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