New Chichester Festival Theatre artistic director "finalising" his first summer season

To be announced in February, it is about 90 per cent in place, Justin says: “I am deep in getting all the exciting details for the season together and we're very nearly there. What we're going to be doing next season is really showcasing the big theatre with large cast sizes and lots of spectacle. That's what I'm really interested in doing but the great thing is that you also have the Minerva where you can nurture people in a really beautiful way and where you can do the more intimate things.

“But I can guarantee people that there will be a big summer musical and that there will always be a balance of new writing and classical pieces and revivals. It will be a balance of all three of those things which feels to me like it is very much the Chichester way and I definitely don't feel the need to change that!”

It all comes as Justin looks back on a very happy first six months in Chichester: “If I were to ping out the highlights, one of them very definitely would be meeting our audiences and getting to know people especially the people who tell me in the supermarket what they like and even what they didn't like! That's important to know too, you know, but it has been great to sense that incredible loyalty that we have in Chichester. You see it in other theatres too but you don't see it anywhere like you do in Chichester which is a big part of what makes the theatre here so special.

“But I've also found the quality of what our production teams put out here is really deeply impressive and I have also found that the artists have a really good time making shows here and that's all brilliantly to the credit of my predecessor Daniel (Evans) and (current executive director) Kathy (Bourne) and also (former artistic director) Jonathan (Church) before.”

As for the shows so far, Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s West Dean Gardens production of A Midsummer Night's Dream has been an outstanding highlight, Justin said: “I thought it was absolutely phenomenal. Everything about it was just so wonderful.”

None of this is happening in particularly easy times. The continuing context for all things, of course, is the ongoing cost of living crisis, something of which the theatre is acutely mindful: “It is an absolute commitment from myself and from Kathy and from the board that we retain our affordable pricing rates. We have got the Prologue tickets (see https://www.cft.org.uk/young-people/prologue) and £10 tickets for every show and that's very, very important.

“I think people are feeling the pinch. We have had a good year in the box office and we are very lucky that we have got very loyal supporters but definitely we can notice what is happening. We're noticing the number of tickets an audience member buys has decreased in some cases. People are still coming but where before they might have been seeing four shows now they are seeing three. Audiences are not quite back to what we would have hoped.”

But the wider context highlights just how well Chichester is doing: “It certainly feels like Chichester is back and I don't think that there is a Covid context here necessarily, but elsewhere there is. When you look at the regional theatre landscape, you can see that things are still a struggle. When you look at the regional touring theatre that comes to us, it gets a nice big audience here but then it goes to the next place and there is nobody there. Obviously it's great for us that we have a thriving theatre where lots of people still want to come along and see shows, but the fact is that you can't survive on your own and that's the worrying thing.”

The best response is to continue to offer the highest-quality shows possible – and also for the theatre to work towards the future of theatres generally: “I have been incredibly impressed by the theatre's commitment to apprenticeships here. There is a real commitment to creating opportunities for training and learning and offering real responsibility. I have been really impressed by the culture of teaching and passing on skills that we have in Chichester and the culture of giving people a chance to shine. And when we do that, I don't think it's really taking a risk because we have trained people so well but the point is we're doing it in a way that really supports people to take big leaps in their career. This is a place that really supports people and gives people such important opportunities.”

Justin has also particularly enjoyed exploring and deepening the theatre's connections with the other great Chichester institutions including the cathedral and Pallant House Gallery, plus also developing its relationship with Chichester District Council.

The point is that the theatre does not stand alone. It's all about the interconnectedness of things – and also about all the things that don't necessarily happen on the stage.

“We have got more than 1,200 participants a week in so many different things with so many different groups that come in. We have such a range of things happening at the theatre and the fact is that they matter so much to the people who come here and to the people out in the community.”

​Coming up this Christmas at the CFT:

Christmas Cabaret will be in the Brasserie Restaurant, December 12-15: Make a night of it with friends, family, or even an office outing, with marvellous music and cracking comedy combined with fabulous food. Tickets include a locally-sourced three-course meal and a festive glass of fizz on arrival. Ages 16+

Santa’s Grotto runs from December 12-23, all ages, £12 per child, 10am-6.30pm: A brand-new family experience for 2023. Go behind the scenes at the elves’ workshop where creativity and craft combine to make Christmas magic happen, take an ‘elfie with Father Christmas himself as well as getting an early present.

Coming up in the Minerva Theatre is The Three Billy Goats Gruff (December 14-January 7), for ages three to seven, morning and matinee performances. Following a hugely successful run at London’s Unicorn Theatre last Easter, Stiles and Drewe’s joyful hit musical The Three Billy Goats Gruff arrives in Chichester for a strictly limited run.

Baby, Middle and Big are three very hungry goats, and there is absolutely no grass left to eat on their side of the valley... Directed by Chichester Festival Theatre’s new artistic director Justin Audibert and featuring music and lyrics by Olivier award-winning composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Mary Poppins, Honk!)

Then comes Chichester Festival Youth Theatre in the main house from December 16-31 with The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling; music by Ruth Chan; directed by Matt Hassell. For ages 7+