CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL 2023

common: they want to assassinate the President of the United States. Some succeed, some fail. But there’s a prize for them all: a place in the history books. John Wilkes Booth. Lee Harvey Oswald. Leon Czolgosz. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. John Hinckley. Charles Guiteau. Sara Jane Moore. Giuseppe Zangara. Samuel Byck. Men and women whose fervour took them to the very edge.

Adrienne and Adam P Kennedy’s autobiographical play, Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles?, is presented as a one-act, nearmonologue to her son at the Minerva Theatre on Fri 16 June – Sat 8 July. Directed by Diyan Zora (winner of the 2021 Genesis Futures Award), it’s a mesmerising and disquieting tale of a Black woman’s betrayal at the hands of the establishment. A young playwright impulsively leaves New York for London with her young son, intent on adapting John Lennon’s book In His Own Write for the stage. In the heady atmosphere of the Swinging ‘60s, she finds herself rubbing shoulders with a dizzying array of celebrities, including all four Beatles. And when her idols, Laurence Olivier – director of the National Theatre – and his influential literary manager Kenneth Tynan, along with actor Victor Spinetti, promise to produce her play, it seems like a dream come true. But slowly the stars seem to align in a different way.

Bringing together a range of new works, modern classics and plenty of musical delights, Chichester Festival Theatre has just announced their 2023 programme. There’s a handful of world premieres, and renowned plays which have never been performed at CFT before – from Arthur Miller to Rodgers and Hammerstein. There’s a rare outing of a play by US writer Adrienne Kennedy and, 50 years after his death, a new production of Noël Coward’s first big success. Contemporary, 20th century or classical, every piece has something to say about the world around us today.

A company of exceptional actors are heading to Chichester, including Dame Eileen Atkins, Samuel Barnett, Carly Bawden, Gina Beck, Rory Bremner, Sebastian Croft, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Joshua James, Danny Mac, Alexandra Roach, Zizi Strallen, Lia Williams, Greg Wise and Susan Wokoma, while seven directors are make their Festival debuts.

This will be the last festival programmed by outgoing Artistic Director, Daniel Evans, and include some brilliant family friendly activities, live events, exhibitions, workshops and the return of CFT Lates. He said: “I’d like to thank the many thousands of freelance artists, creatives and technical staff who’ve brought them to life; CFT’s indefatigable staff; and of course our audiences, who are among the most supportive and adventurous theatregoers in the country. I know they will welcome my successor, Justin Audibert, with the same warmth that greeted my own arrival in this beautiful and unique theatre.”

Directed by Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award nominee Daniel Raggett, Noël Coward’s The Vortex heads to CFT on Fri 28 April – Sat 20 May. Set amongst the Roaring 20s, it sees the magnetic Florence Lancaster draw people to her like moths to a flame. But when her son Nicky arrives home from Paris with an unexpected fiancée and a secret, it sets off a chain of events which threatens to pull them all into a maelstrom. This brilliantly witty and stinging portrait of the darkness beneath the glittering surface of the Jazz Age is as vivid today as when it premiered. I caused a sensation and catapulting its young writer to his first great success.

Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles tuns at the Minerva Theatre on Thurs 4 May – Sat 10 June. Richard Eyre directs this warm, wry and compassionate story about love, loss, memory and moving on. Late one night, 21-yearold Leo arrives without warning at his grandmother’s Manhattan apartment – the furthest point on a momentous bike ride across America. Vera is 91 and lives alone, her independence undimmed by the challenges of modern living. Baffled by each other at first, this odd couple slowly edge across the distance between them.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and story by John Weidman, Assassins lights up the Festival Theatre on Sat 3 – Sat 24 June. This biting, Tony Award-winning, musical comedy takes us on a daring, time-bending journey through American history. Amongst a surreal carnival, a small group of people who have one thing in

The Sound of Music was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s last and perhaps most treasured musical, and is being presented by CFT for the first time on Mon 10 July – Sun 3 Sept.

Directed Adam Penford takes us to 30s Austria, as a free-spirited nun Maria is sent away from her abbey. Becoming a governess to the widowed Captain von Trapp’s seven children, she brings music and laughter back to an unfeeling household - but the future holds more joy and jeopardy than she ever dreamed possible.