News from Chichester Festival Theatre

Published: 19 May 2012
Reporter: Sheila Connor

Theatre on the FlyCelebrating its fiftieth anniversary, Chichester Festival Theatre is looking to the future with Theatre on the Fly, a temporary new space echoing The Tent, a second auditorium which appeared opposite the Festival Theatre in 1983, housing productions which were often more experimental than those on the main stage. Its success prompted the creation of the Minerva Theatre on the same site.

It will be designed and built by Assemble, a collective of young artists, designers and architects specialising in creating temporary arts structures from reclaimed and donated materials. Their previous projects include transforming a derelict petrol station in Clerkenwell into a hand-built cinema and ‘Folly for a Flyover’ turned a gap between East and Westbound traffic on the A12 into a waterside arts venue.

Three young directors who trained at Chichester Festival Theatre during the last five years will produce Blue Remembered Hills, Playhouse Creatures and Fred’s Diner.

There will also be comedy, live music and cabaret as well as theatre activities for children and Anniversary readings.

The building began on Thursday 17th of this month and is well under way.

Built by community support from sponsors B&Q, anyone who would like to take part in the creation of this structure should e-mail [email protected] for information.

The theatre has announced the appointment of Sir William Castell as the Chair Elect of its Board of Trustees. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees for two years and is the chairman of the redevelopment project fundraising team.

Arts Council England recently announced that Chichester Festival Theatre has successfully completed Stage One of its application to receive £12 million towards its RENEW redevelopment project.

As part of Chichester Festival Theatre’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, the Dean of Chichester will host A Forum on Theatre and the Public Good with actor and director Dame Janet Suzman, Professor Joe Winston and writer director John Burgess. The event, which is free and not ticketed, takes place at Chichester Cathedral on Monday 28th May at 6:30PM. For more information go to cft.org.uk/events.

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