Chichester Plays Scramble for Empty Gielgud???

Originally due to open at the Gielgud Theatre, screen-to-stage musical Desperately Seeking Susan’s last-minute change of venue to the larger Novello leaves the 900-seat Shaftesbury Avenue playhouse available for … well, plays (See News, 10 Jul 2007). And there are several productions from this year’s Chichester Festival season jostling for the honour (See News, 22 Feb 2007). The Last Confession, the Vatican-set thriller starring David Suchet, has already arrived at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, but the Patrick Stewart-headed double bill of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (already opened to good reviews) and Twelfth Night (which has its press night next week) has strong future transfer potential. Another critically acclaimed candidate is the revival of Anouilh’s bitter-sweet 1952 farce The Waltz of the Toreadors, starring Peter Bowles.

The Gielgud is currently undergoing a brief refurbishment but should be ready to receive any of those by the time Chichester’s summer season concludes on 22 September 2007. Further ahead, Chichester also hopes to bring last summer’s hit revival of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby to the West End for a limited season. The two-part epic returns to Chichester from 10 to 22 September in the Festival Theatre and then embarks on a national tour until November. In which case, a West End Christmas stint perhaps?

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