Best-ever winter bodes well for brilliant summer at Chichester Festival Theatre

SussexWorld

After the best winter season ever in its history in terms of money and audience numbers, Chichester Festival Theatre is now relishing a great response so far to the summer shows ahead.

Transcript

00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always really

00:06 lovely to speak to Cathy Bourne, Executive Director at Chichester Festival Theatre. Now,

00:11 really truly exciting time at the Festival Theatre, new Artistic Director Justin O'Debow

00:16 about to see his very first season. But you're saying there's been a fantastic response to

00:21 booking to that new season once it was announced on the back of a really brilliant winter.

00:26 Festival Theatre is in a good place, isn't it? Yeah, it really feels to us like we have

00:30 bounced back post-Covid and there's a really good buzz around the site. I think people

00:37 really enjoy what we had to offer around the Christmas period with kids shows and the Santa

00:42 Scrotta, which was a new thing for us last year. And always when a new Artistic Director

00:48 starts there's an intrigue and a curiosity around what they're going to put into their

00:52 first programme. And this is definitely no different from that.

00:57 What do you think we're seeing of Justin in this programme? What's typically him?

01:02 I think big, I think bold in the Festival Theatre. He's had a real focus on the Festival

01:08 Theatre in particular this year. We know that even last year the Minerva Theatre was back

01:13 and our audiences were coming to the shows in the Minerva Theatre. It's always a, it's

01:17 sort of weirdly I suppose because it's only got the 310 seats, as you know, it's easier

01:22 to fill. Whereas I think what we recognised is that that 1,300 seat theatre, the Festival

01:29 Theatre is much harder to fill. So you have to find...

01:32 And it matters more, doesn't it?

01:33 And it matters more, absolutely matters more, not least because Festival Theatre subsidises

01:38 the Minerva Theatre. So we need to find those plays in particular that are going to really

01:42 land well, which means that you're looking for populist product and something that people

01:48 are going to really understand or stories that you might have heard of that you've got

01:51 an interest in. So The Other Billing Girl is a prime example of that. It's a good history

01:57 drama. You might have seen the film, you might have read the book. Philippa Gregory, of course,

02:01 such an incredible writer, bringing that story to our stage, I think will have mass appeal.

02:07 Absolutely. And it sounds like you've made the right choices because as you're saying,

02:12 booking is significantly up on last year and...

02:15 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And so it feels like finally we're getting to the

02:21 stage, year on year we move forward in this post-pandemic world, but definitely we've

02:26 seen the curve in the direction of the pre-pandemic levels that Chichester was experiencing, which

02:31 is really exciting and...

02:32 It's getting back straight on the team.

02:33 It's heartening. It's just a good thing. And certainly it's reassuring for us because...

02:43 And if I look across the industry, if I look at other regional theatres, they are struggling.

02:48 And they're struggling with drama in particular. And it doesn't feel like we are in the same

02:57 way as they are.

02:58 And a slight change of emphasis then, insofar as you are 20% up, but with two fewer plays.

03:04 What was the thinking there to have fewer productions?

03:06 So the thinking there is about possibly not giving as much choice as you might necessarily

03:13 get. What we found post-pandemic is that people are choosing fewer shows to go to see. So

03:18 if you've only got a certain amount of money, it can only stretch so far. So let's condense

03:22 the season, have fewer shows, particularly in the festival theatre, and hope that you're

03:27 then filling the houses that we've got there, that people will come and see the work that

03:31 you've got. If you're only going to choose three, then it should equate to more people

03:38 coming to see shows per night, if that makes sense.

03:41 So fewer people, people are booking fewer tickets. That means you've got to open up

03:45 all those people who are not coming.

03:47 Exactly, exactly that.

03:48 So how do you reach them, particularly the younger people? Because that's going to be

03:51 a big emphasis, isn't it?

03:53 Yeah, for us, it's about making sure that we always have affordable prices. So of course,

03:57 we have our prologue scheme, which is 16 to 30 year olds, £5 tickets for any show, and

04:02 always ensuring that we've got those 10 to £10 or £15 tickets for every show. So you're

04:08 making it. You can't buy a McDonald's for less than five quid, as far as I know. So

04:14 actually, this is a whole evening out that you can pay £5 to be part of. We think that

04:20 that's a real appeal. And the other thing is making sure that we are providing product

04:24 that's going to interest a younger audience and be relevant for them too. So sticking

04:28 Oliver in the middle of the season, we know that's going to be a big banker in terms of

04:32 families. A family show will appeal to all audiences. You've got the tickets for under

04:36 16s that are just half the price. Whereas if you go to London and you're buying a family

04:41 ticket for four, you're going to pay £200, £300 to take your family to see a show like

04:46 that. So I think, you know, we keep our tickets affordable and we provide product that's going

04:51 to excite them and feels relevant for them.

04:55 So as the new era dawns, then you're feeling very encouraged by the response to the box

04:59 office so far?

05:00 Yeah, really, really excited about it and reassured by it. And we already know because

05:08 we're booking winter earlier than we used to, we've got some great shows coming this

05:13 winter as well. So let's hope that the fall year for us is going to be another cracker

05:18 for Chichester.

05:19 Well, congratulations on the season. There's so much that I personally am really, really

05:23 truly looking forward to, particularly that Stones one. So lovely to speak to you. Good

05:28 luck with everything.

05:29 Great to see you.

05:30 Thank you.

05:31 Thank you so much. See you soon.

05:32 Bye.

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