Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, Sussex, England, is a theatre designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. The smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989. The inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the NT's base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productions in 1962 were: "The Chances" by John Fletcher (first production 1638) which opened on 3 July; "The Broken Heart" (1633),
James Houghton (artistic director) James Houghton (artistic director) James Houghton (September 4, 1958 - August 2, 2017) is an American educator, mentor, and arts administrator. He is primarily known for being the former Director of Drama at The Juilliard School and the former artistic director of Signature Theatre Company. James Houghton was born in San Francisco, California to mother Joan Heaney, a preschool teacher and dental assistant, and father Sherrill Houghton, a school administrator. He first found his love of theatre at St. Ignatius Preparatory School, a Jesuit school in the Bay Area. There, he started his own theatre company with friends called Overeasy