HEDDA TESMAN By Cordelia Lynn After Henrik Ibsen
DANIEL EVANS AND KATHY BOURNE PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHAN PERSSON
WELCOME
Welcome to our second world premiere of Festival 2019, Cordelia Lynn’s Hedda Tesman, after Henrik Ibsen. Following Plenty and The Deep Blue Sea, Hedda Tesman offers the third in a triptych of complex and fascinating leading female characters to feature in our season. As Cordelia and the director Holly Race Roughan vividly testify in this programme, Hedda Gabler is an endlessly intriguing figure; and we are delighted that their new incarnation of Ibsen’s great play is receiving its premiere at the Minerva. It’s a pleasure to welcome them and their creative team to Chichester. It’s also an enormous pleasure to be forging a new partnership with The Lowry (where Hedda Tesman will play immediately following its Chichester run) and to be collaborating once again with Headlong. Chichester’s fruitful relationship with this exceptional theatre company stretches back to Rupert Goold’s production of Six Characters
in Search of an Author in 2008, since when our association has included the premiere of Lucy Prebble’s ENRON in 2009; the revival of James Graham’s This House in 2016; and the premiere of Deborah Bruce’s The House They Grew Up In, directed by Headlong’s Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin in 2017. Long may our partnership continue. Haydn Gwynne plays Hedda. With West End and Broadway roles ranging from Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot to Margaret Thatcher in The Audience and Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World, this is a long overdue Chichester debut, especially since she hails from Sussex. We are glad to welcome back Anthony Calf, making a swift return after Plenty earlier this season, and Jonathan Hyde who last appeared here in 2011’s Rattigan’s Nijinsky. We wish them and the rest of the company bon voyage in Chichester and Salford; and we hope you, our audience, enjoy this performance.
Executive Director Kathy Bourne
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Artistic Director Daniel Evans
A U T U M N 2 019
John Simm Dervla Kirwan
MACBETH By William Shakespeare Paul Miller directs John Simm and Dervla Kirwan in an electrifying production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
21 September – 26 October #Macbeth
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10 TICKETS FROM
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A U T U M N 2 019
THE BUTTERFLY LION By Michael Morpurgo In a new adaptation by Anna Ledwich Director Dale Rooks combines music, design and puppetry to bring Michael Morpurgo’s magical adventure to life: celebrating friendship and the triumph of love. Ages 7+
5 October – 15 November #TheButterflyLion
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BUDDYING UP PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARL PENDLE
BUDDYING UP A WELCOME TO ALL
From its earliest conception, Chichester Festival Theatre was designed to be welcoming. The public foyer spaces for both the Festival Theatre and the Minerva are democratic; during the interval, you’ll mingle with your fellow audience members in the same space, no matter where you are sitting in the auditorium. Our aim is to ensure that all patrons are treated equally, feel valued and experience high levels of satisfaction. Over the last two years, CFT has been awarded Gold and Silver Awards for Access & Inclusivity and Tourism Experience at the Beautiful South Tourism Awards, in addition to a Silver Customer Experience Superstar Award for our House Management team. But we’re constantly looking for ways to improve and innovate. Online booking for Access members, and audio-description in disabled toilets are just two recent introductions. The CFT website now features a 360° ‘Take a Tour’ of the entire Festival Theatre site, particularly useful for first time visitors, as well as videos introducing our range of signed, captioned, audio described and relaxed performances and Access facilities. The ongoing Ageless Campaign helps to keep theatre and live art at the heart of people’s lives, helping them face the challenges of ageing, illness and isolation. One scheme which has proved particularly valuable is CFT Buddies, which provides a friendly volunteer companion for those who’d prefer not to come to the theatre on their own. As Louise Rigglesford, Community Partnerships Manager, explains: ‘The Buddies scheme is for anyone who would like to use it, but is specifically targeted at people who are elderly or at risk of isolation, people with additional needs or on the autism spectrum; or anyone who is experiencing anxieties about coming to the theatre by themselves. The Buddy will be here to greet you when you arrive,
help you collect your tickets, maybe buy a programme or drink before the show, and sit next to you to watch the production. They’ll be with you during the interval to have a chat about what’s happening, and then make sure you safely get on your way home at the end of the performance as well.’ Members of CFT’s Access List receive a 40% discount on tickets, and thanks to sponsorship from investment managers Rathbones, the Buddy’s ticket is free. An additional pilot offer for 2019 is a partnership with the Community Companion Service ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ to benefit users of the Buddy scheme who require assistance in getting to the Theatre. When they use this service, we are able to cover the full cost of transport for those travelling from within the Chichester District; 50% from within West Sussex; and 25% outside the county. As Glyn Bentley-Angell, one of the volunteer Buddies, says: ‘We have these two world-class theatres and everybody should have a chance to enjoy that.’ He points out that while the scheme may be most associated with elderly patrons, ‘Not everybody in their 20s and 30s, for example, has the opportunity to go independently to the theatre.’ ‘It’s an amazingly brilliant scheme,’ says Lois Tibbetts, a regular user of the scheme. ‘I hope that other people get the benefit that I have done on the occasions on which I’ve used the scheme: having somebody there to share the experience and to make sure that I’m safe.’ To find out more, call the CFT Box Office on 01243 781312, email access@cft.org.uk or visit cft.org.uk/buddies CFT Buddies is supported by Rathbones
LEAP
LEARNING, EDUCATION AND PARTICIPATION Our Learning, Education and Participation department works with people of all ages and abilities, offering opportunities to get involved with CFT beyond the work you see on our stages. A wide range of practical workshops, talks, tours and performances aims to excite and inspire everyone who takes part.
COMMUNITY
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
Enjoy developing artistic, personal and social skills through our workshops, projects, productions and award-winning Youth Theatre for young people of all abilities. Chichester Festival Youth Theatre | Holiday Activities | Arts Award
EDUCATION
Our work with local schools, colleges and universities is designed to inspire and enrich students’ learning, while the next generation of arts professionals is nurtured through our training and apprenticeships programme. In-school workshops and projects | Work Experience | School Theatre Days
Learn about life behind the scenes, discover more about productions, develop creative skills, socialise and share experiences with others through workshops and community projects for anyone aged 18 +. Get Into It! workshops | Talks and Discussions | Heritage projects | Dementia Friendly activities
FAMILIES
We’re always delighted to welcome our youngest visitors and their grown-ups to the Theatre. Families can explore and have fun with workshops, productions, events and activities. Family Foyle sessions | Little Notes | Fun Palaces | Family workshops
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HEDDA TESMAN By Cordelia Lynn After Henrik Ibsen
A HEDDA FOR OUR TIMES Two days into rehearsals for Hedda Tesman, Bridget Minamore sat down with writer Cordelia Lynn and director Holly Race Roughan to find out how they approached adapting Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 play, Hedda Gabler. HOLLY RACE ROUGHAN CORDELIA LYNN
Bridget Minamore You've worked on Hedda Tesman for two and a half years. When did you decide ‘We’re going to do this’, and ‘This is what our version will look like’? Cordelia Lynn Hedda Gabler is a play we both love. It’s got one of the great characters of playwriting history and the politics of it are fascinating. But Ibsen was concerned with a play’s relevance to its own society, writing: ‘I have not yet come to an understanding with ancient art. I cannot make out its connection with our own time.’ We were talking one night and found ourselves asking, ‘How do we make a play like Hedda Gabler – that’s so
dependent on 19th century socio-cultural conditions – work and feel visible now?’. Holly Race Roughan Then I got an email from Cordelia – sent around four o’clock in the morning – saying, ‘I think it all hangs on these characters being at the end of their careers, being middle-aged’. CL One of the problems of putting Hedda Gabler in modern dress, or thinking about it in modern terms, is that Hedda is a privileged young woman who’s unhappy with her life and the marriage she's made. She's bored and frustrated. You could look at this 29-year-old