THE SOUTHBURY CHILD A new play by Stephen Beresford
WELCOME
KATHY BOURNE AND DANIEL EVANS PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAMUS RYAN
FESTIVAL 2022
Welcome to this performance of Stephen Beresford’s new play, The Southbury Child. It is a particular pleasure to be co-producing this world premiere with The Bridge Theatre, since it brings director Nicholas Hytner and actor Alex Jennings back to Chichester for the first time since they worked together here on The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1985 – a mere 37 years ago! Their many collaborations since then at the National Theatre include Hymn and Cocktail Sticks, Collaborators, The Habit of Art, The Alchemist and The Winter’s Tale, and The Lady in the Van on screen. It is wonderful to have them back here in our 60th anniversary year. The Southbury Child is rare for a modern play, in that it takes faith and the daily life of the church as not only a serious subject, but one which highlights the divisions and changes in contemporary society. We are
thrilled to be giving Chichester audiences the first opportunity to see Stephen Beresford’s new work, before it transfers to The Bridge for its London run. Alex Jennings heads a distinguished ensemble cast; we are delighted to welcome back some who are familiar to Chichester, and others making their first appearance here. Looking ahead, the company of Crazy for You are at work with director and choreographer Susan Stroman, creating a summer showstopper full of glorious Gershwin melodies and stunning tap routines. There’s more engrossing drama to come too, with the revival of Roy Williams’s ferocious, funny and disturbing Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (which will see the Minerva transformed into a pub setting), and the premiere of The Narcissist, Christopher Shinn’s gripping new play on political and personal communication in the internet age. Enjoy today’s performance and we hope to see you again soon.
Executive Director Kathy Bourne
cft.org.uk
Artistic Director Daniel Evans
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CHARLIE CARLY STEMP ANDERSON
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Music & Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Book by Ken Ludwig Co-conception by Ken Ludwig and Mike Ockrent Inspired by material by Guy Bolton and John McGowan
A hilarious, riotously entertaining musical packed with glorious Gershwin melodies and stunning tap dance routines, directed and choreographed by the multi Tony and Olivier Award-winning Susan Stroman. Charlie Stemp (Half A Sixpence, Mary Poppins) and Carly Anderson (Wicked, Sunny Afternoon) lead the cast.
FESTIVAL THEATRE 11 July – 4 September #CrazyForYou
Crazy for You™ is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Tams-Wittmark LLC. concordtheatricals.co.uk
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F E S T I VA L 2 0 2 2
SING YER HEART OUT FOR THE LADS By Roy Williams
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Sunday Times
WhatsOnStage
Guardian
Riveting
Magnificent
MINERVA THEATRE 22 July – 13 August #SingYerHeartOut
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Faultless
LEAP
Our Learning, Education and Participation (LEAP) programme offers practical workshops, projects and special events for over 62,000
GAME CHANGERS: COMMUNITY COMPANIES CFT’s programme of community events for adults range from weekly classes to talks and tours: allowing participants to discover more about the Theatre and its productions, as well as helping build confidence and gain new skills. Projects and initiatives includes CFT Buddies, the volunteer companion scheme, and Get Into It! – weekly sessions for adults to learn new skills in designing, acting, dancing, singing and devising. The latest initiative launched in September 2021. The Wednesday and Friday Community Companies offer weekly workshops for adults with learning disabilities. Sessions exploring creativity and developing personal and social skills are open to anyone over the age of 25, all within a supportive and fun-filled environment. As part of the Digital Stages events celebrating our 60th anniversary, the Wednesday and Friday groups will be creating Game Changer, combining gaming technology with theatrical storytelling and music to create a new virtual theatre experience.
auditorium, the Friday Company members will create a parallel universe on the digital stage with clay characters animated by 3D scanning technology. Meanwhile, the Wednesday Company members will be working alongside songwriter and musician Michael Fry to create a soundscape to accompany the digital story, offering an immersive utopia. Game Changer will be released from 8 July 2022; sign up to our regular e-newsletters to hear more about this and the full Digital Stages programme or head to our website, where you can also read more about our Community Companies and projects at cft.org.uk/take-part/community There are currently spaces available in our Wednesday Company, and we would welcome new members to join in the creative, fun and exciting projects we have planned. If you – or someone you know – would be interested in joining, you can book a free taster session or discuss our bursary scheme in confidence by contacting Louise Rigglesford, Senior Community and Outreach Manager, at louise.rigglesford@cft.org.uk.
The Friday Company will work with Brighton-based BRiGHTBLACK, a digital company specialising in interactive and immersive playable artwork. Using a highly accurate scan of the Festival Theatre
COMMUNITY
people throughout the year. We aim to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, culture and social background, is given the opportunity to enrich
their lives with the joy of creative expression and the arts.
‘I like being creative and having fun’ Wednesday Company member
‘It makes me feel happy and jolly’ Wednesday Company member
cft.org.uk/leap
DIGITAL STAGES Join us as we mark our 60th Anniversary with six dynamic digital events celebrating Chichester Festival Theatre across the decades. Using new technology to put the history of CFT centre stage, these special events will be released over our birthday week in July giving audiences across the globe an opportunity to celebrate with us. To be the first to hear more about Digital Stages, sign up to our newsletters at cft.org.uk or follow us on social media. cft.org.uk/DigitalStages
VISIONARY STAGES
From Sunday 3 July Join Daniel Evans, Sir Derek Jacobi, John Simm and the Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival Theatre in Ontario, Canada, Antoni Cimolino for a unique event. Using cuttingedge technology, we have recreated the much-loved Festival Theatre’s stage as it was in 1962. Launching on our official 60th birthday, this virtual meet-up sees Daniel and other special guests relive some favourite productions and talk about the shared history of the two buildings including the unique hexagonal designs, as they look back on 60 years of extraordinary theatre. Tickets £5.
BACKSTAGE VIRTUAL TOUR
From Tuesday 5 July Ever wondered what lies beyond the stage at the Festival Theatre? In this immersive VR backstage tour you will encounter actors as they prepare to go on stage, and see the inner workings of the Theatre in virtual reality. This immersive unique experience will be available using VR headsets in the foyer this summer, or you can access a 360-degree video version on our YouTube channel. FREE
DIGITAL DIORAMA
YOUR DREAM
From Wednesday 6 July Do you have what it takes to be the next Laurence Olivier? Want to join our biggest company yet? We’re inviting you all to take part in one mammoth online performance from A Midsummer Night’s Dream; you choose your own stage and your own costume, you are your own director! Just send us a video of you performing a pre-selected scene and we will edit them all together for a one-off screening online. The deadline for submissions is Friday 17 June so head to cft.org.uk/YourDream for full details. FREE
From Thursday 7 July A digital diorama sharing memories and anecdotes attached to 60 pieces from CFT’s fascinating archive will go on virtual display this summer. Model boxes, props, costumes, set designs, footage, programmes, artwork, time-lapses, interviews and sound bites will be shared to tell the story of our beloved Theatre through the last six decades. FREE
GAME CHANGER
From Friday 8 July Our endlessly creative ‘Wednesday and Friday’ community companies for adults with learning disabilities will combine gaming technology with theatrical storytelling and music to create a new virtual theatre experience. Using a highly accurate scan of our auditorium, they will work alongside experts to hone their skills in building a new digital theatre. FREE
FOOD AND DRINK Enjoy delicious food and drink at our welcoming café and restaurant. Whether you’re having a meal before the show, simply relaxing with a coffee or powering up using our free Wi-Fi, we can’t wait to welcome you.
DINE BEFORE THE SHOW
GREAT COFFEE IN A GREAT LOCATION
Enjoy a contemporary British menu featuring local and seasonal ingredients, a selection of excellent wines and top-notch service in our stylish and award-winning restaurant The Brasserie – the closest restaurant to the Theatre.
A great spot for barista coffee, freshly made sandwiches, delicious cakes and a range of drinks. Our Café on the Park offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking Oaklands Park and family friendly areas in our spacious foyer.
Open for Festival Theatre performances: matinees from 12pm and evening shows from 5pm. Also available for private hires and functions.
Open Monday to Friday from 10am and from 9am on Saturday so ParkRunners can stop by for much needed refreshment.
Visit cft.org.uk/eat, call 01243 782219 or email dining@cft.org.uk for opening times, reservations, menus and more.
THE SOUTHBURY CHILD A new play by Stephen Beresford
ST SAVIOUR’S CHURCH, DARTMOUTH
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Ysenda Maxtone Graham on the challenges facing Anglican parishes The combined scent of damp hymn books, dahlias slightly past their best, candlewax, Brasso and Victorian radiators: breathing in this intoxicating smell is one of the delights of living in England, with its 12,500 parish churches at the heart of every village and town. To press down the latch and feel the church door opening rather than remaining stubbornly shut is one of life’s great reassurers. So, this 1,000-year-old architectural gem is still living, breathing, working! Hymn numbers on the hymn board! Bad drawings of Jesus by the Sunday School children! A Bible open on the lectern! Or is the church you’ve chanced upon locked up, and actually on life-support, almost dead? Is it one of the churches euphemistically named ‘Festival Churches’ in a cynically upbeat new Church of England branding, meaning ‘a church that only has services four times a year, at Christmas, Easter, Harvest and Patron Saint’s day, which is better than nothing, because the other option is that it’ll be closed down for ever’? The Church of England, rather like the NHS and the BBC, is a sprawling institution struggling to keep its head above water and somehow managing to against all the odds. But unlike the NHS and the BBC, the general public does not pay tax or a licence fee for the Church, unlike in Germany where there’s an obligatory church tax. And a good thing too, because why should atheists and agnostics have to stump up money for something they don’t believe in? But the majority of us, of all beliefs and none, do like the Church to be there at key moments of our and our beloveds’ lives: the baptisms, marriages and deaths of close family members and friends. And it is there, just doing its stuff, week in, week out. In its very undemanding nature, the Church of England suits the traditional British character. CHILD’S DRAWING OF JESUS
You don’t have to ‘join’ the Church of England; it’s not a membership club. It allows anonymity. It’s fine to sit at the back and not to hug or even say hello to anyone. It’s also very English in its tolerance of people with deeply contrasting attitudes to Christianity and indeed to life. At one end, you have those of a ‘catholic’ persuasion, who love liturgy, robes, incense, Holy Communion, choral music and ‘Lead us, heavenly father, lead us’ sung from the English Hymnal. At the other end, you have the evangelicals, with their drum kits, TV screens, guitar-accompanied love songs to Jesus, and 40-minute-long sermons about the reality of Jesus coming into your life. You might think it would be the former more old-fashionedseeming type who would be the more strict when it comes to living out sexual desires of whatever persuasion, as long as it’s with a consenting adult, but in fact it’s the latter. Just go on the website of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, the leading conservative evangelical church in London, and watch their video of how to keep ‘same-sex attraction’ firmly in check, as they believe that God, Jesus and the Bible intend. (On the subject of the smells of church interiors, the evangelical ones smell of newly fitted carpets, filter coffee and the recent sweat of their large and physically active congregations. Quite a different scent.) ‘We don’t own the truth,’ as Canon Bruce Ruddock said to me, explaining how the C of E works.