Theatre News

George III, Wild Bride & Prime Minister Visit Chichester

Chichester Festival Theatre has announced its full winter season, which will see it host productions including Peter Hall’s revival of The Madness of King George III, Kneehigh’s The Wild Bride and a second return for its 2010 hit Yes, Prime Minister.

The season will also feature, as previously reported, visits from Frantic Assembly’s Lovesong (15-26 November 2011) and Simon Callow’s two one-man plays by Charles Dickens, Dr Marigold and Mr Chops (21-26 November).

Other touring productions stopping off in Chichester include Basket Case, starring Nigel Havers (28 November-3 December), John Godber’s The Debt Collectors, and Filter’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (5-10 December).

The season kicks off in the Festival Theatre, from 14 to 19 November, with Christopher Luscombe’s Theatre Royal Bath revival of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III, starring David Haig (returning to the Festival Theatre following his performance in Yes, Prime Minister) in the title role.

Opening the season in the Minerva Theatre from 1 to 5 November is The Wild Bride, the new touring production by Kneehigh. Also returning to the Minerva from 15 to 26 November are Frantic Assembly with Abi Morgan’s play Lovesong, which intertwines a couple in their 20s with the same man and woman a lifetime later.

Following its premiere in Festival 2010, a West End transfer and national tour, the CFT production of Yes, Prime Minister returns to the Festival Theatre for the second time from 26 January to 4 February 2012. The much-loved BBC hit series is reimagined for the stage by original writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn and stars Graham Seed as PM Jim Hacker alongside Michael Simkins as Sir Humphrey Appleby.

The festive season will be celebrated with the Christmas Concerts (5-10 December), which will be followed in the Festival Theatre by the CFT youth theatre’s new production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (17-31 December), dramatised by Adrian Mitchell and directed by Dale Rooks.

Another family literary favourite, Swallows and Amazons, will visit the Festival Theatre from 17 to 21 January as part of a national tour. Adapted by Helen Edmundson (Coram Boy) with music by The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, it premiered at Bristol Old Vic last December and is directed by the venue’s artistic director Tom Morris.