Chichester Festival Theatre bids farewell to Theatre in the Park Following a summer in which the temporary auditorium was hailed as a triumph by audiences, critics and the local community.
It will take about three weeks for the auditorium to be taken down before being placed in storage while its future is determined. Following the dismantling, the football pitch at Oaklands Park will be fully reinstated by Chichester District Council.
Approximately 100,000 people have seen productions and activities at the Theatre in the Park during Festival 2013, including Barnum, Neville's Island, Jimmy Carr, the BBC Concert Orchestra, Sandi Toksvig, the University of Chichester Graduation ceremonies and various talks workshops and tours.
The new temporary auditorium was erected in June while the main Festival Theatre remained out of commissium due to the £22 million RENEW redevelopment. Mirroring the Festival Theatre's auditorium, the building housed 1,400 seats and a thrust stage.
It was installed in eight days with the entire project completed in four weeks, situated a few minutess stroll across Oakland Park from the Festival Theatre.
A special Theatre in the Park team was responsible for welcoming visitors and providing assistance at this unfamiliar venue. A fleet of golf buggies were provided to transport visitors to the site when needed.
Alan Finch, Executive Director at Chichester Festival Theatre, said, "Deciding to build a temporary auditorium of this scale was a hugely ambitious, challenging and exciting project.
"The positive response to the tent from audiences has been extremely gratifying and unprecedented. We hope that people will look back on their experiences of Theatre in the Park with fond memories.
"Theatre in the Park has been at the heart of an unforgettable summer for us all."
The venue was designed especially for Festival 2013 by architect Teresa Hoskyns and theatre producer Mat Churchill.