The Taxidermist's Daughter, a new play by Kate Mosse and based on her novel, opens Chichester Festival Theatre's 60th anniversary season from 8 April 2022.
Directed by Ròisin McBrino, the company includes Geoff Aymer, Pearl Chanda (as Cassie), William Chubb, Tim Frances, Daisy Prosper (as Connie), Forbes Masson, Taheen Modak, Akei Osai, Alastair Parker, Raad Rawl, Howard Saddler, Posy Sterling and Connie Walker.
1912. In the isolated Blackthorn House on Sussex's Fishbourne Marshes, Connie Gifford lives with her father. His Museum of Avian Taxidermy was once legendary, but since its closure, Gifford has become a broken man, taking refuge in the bottle.
Robbed of her childhood memories by a mysterious accident, Connie is haunted by fitful glimpses of her past. A strange woman has been seen in the graveyard, and at Chichester's Graylingwell Asylum, two female patients have inexplicably disappeared.
As a major storm hits the Sussex landscape, old wounds are about to be opened as one woman, intent on revenge, attempts to liberate another from the horrifying crimes of the past.
The Taxidermist's Daughter will be designed by Paul Wills, with lighting by Prema Mehta, music, sound and musical direction by Sinéad Diskin, video design by Andrea Goulding, movement by Chi-San Howard, fight direction by Rc-Annie and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG.