Founded in 1962 by local optician Leslie Evershed-Martin, Chichester Festival Theatre is a Grade II* listed venue in Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex, England. Britain’s first modern thrust stage theatre, it was inaugurated under the artistic direction of Laurence Olivier, whose company here formed the basis of the National Theatre. The main Festival Theatre seats 1,206, the intimate Minerva Theatre seats 283, and a third venue, The Nest (120 seats), opened in 2025. The annual Festival Season runs April to October across classics, new writing, and musicals, reaching an audience of 230,000. Productions regularly transfer to London’s West End and tour internationally — recent transfers include Crazy for You, South Pacific, and Singin’ in the Rain. CFT is a registered charity with one of the UK’s largest youth theatres (800+ members). read more