Chichester Festival Theatre has unveiled its Festival 2026 season, revealing a line-up of classic musicals, major new dramas and eight world premieres running from March to October.
The season includes the theatre’s first ever staging of My Fair Lady, a new A Midsummer Night’s Dream set amid 1990s Sussex rave culture, and a series of large-scale and intimate new works across the Festival and Minerva Theatres.
Artistic Director Justin Audibert and Executive Director Kathy Bourne said: ‘As we announce our brand new season, six previous Chichester Festival Theatre productions are playing in London or around the country – reaching 472,000 people in 2025. It’s a powerful testimony to the quality and appeal of the shows we make here that many go on to delight audiences far beyond West Sussex. Festival 2026 features no fewer than eight world premieres, as well as our eagerly anticipated summer musical and Shakespeare’s most popular comedy. In the Festival Theatre are five shows with spectacle and theatricality at their very heart, including Chichester’s first ever production of My Fair Lady. In the intimate Minerva, five new plays explore family and our place in the world on a very human level. All ask searching questions about ourselves and our society, while often making us laugh too.’
The season opens with The BFG, adapted by Tom Wells with additional material by Jenny Worton and directed by Daniel Evans, fresh from its Stratford-upon-Avon run. John Leader leads the cast as the Big Friendly Giant.
David Haig’s Magic premieres in April. Haig stars as Arthur Conan Doyle alongside Hadley Fraser as Harry Houdini, with direction from Lucy Bailey. The production explores the pair’s friendship and opposing beliefs surrounding spiritualism.
In May, John Morton’s new play Eclipse arrives in the Minerva Theatre, starring Sarah Parish and Rupert Penry-Jones. The work examines family tensions simmering beneath the surface of everyday conversations.
Christopher Hampton’s stage adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Atonement premieres later in May under the direction of Adam Penford. Spanning multiple decades, the story charts the devastating consequences of a young girl’s accusation.
Geraldine James makes her Chichester debut in 45 Years, adapted from Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed film by Hannah Patterson and directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah. Running in the Minerva from June, the play follows a marriage shaken by a revelation from the past.
Summer brings a major new production of My Fair Lady, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh with design by Peter McKintosh and choreography by Stephen Mear. Featuring beloved songs such as “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” the musical runs from July to September.
World premieres continue with Atlantis by Emily White, directed by Guy Jones and presented in partnership with Theatr Clwyd. The play spans four generations of a Welsh family facing the threat of climate change.
Stephanie Street’s a small and quiet light follows in August. Co-directed by Diyan Zora and Elin Schofield, it tells the story of SOE operative Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, played by Priyanga Burford.
The Festival Theatre season concludes with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, co-directed by Justin Audibert and Hannah Joss. Munya Chawawa makes his theatrical debut as Bottom alongside Jemima Rooper as Titania.
At the Minerva, Antigone Exits by Nina Segal reimagines Sophocles’ classic for the modern era, directed by Jeff James and running from late September.
Family programming includes the return of Hey! Christmas Tree, written by Vicki Berwick from a poem by Michael Morpurgo, and Peter Pan – a musical adventure, presented by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre.
Across the season, 21,000 tickets priced at £10 and £15 will be available, alongside 10,000 £5 Prologue tickets for 16 to 30 year-olds.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
