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),
Michael Elliott (director) Company, based at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith) with Elliott appointed assistant artistic director and, although short-lived, the company achieved considerable success with productions of Ibsen's "Brand" (Elliott's professional debut as a director) and "Little Eyolf", plus Georg Büchner's "Danton's Death". The two men supervised a season of plays at the Old Vic in 1961, this time with Elliott as artistic director and Wrede as his assistant. He directed "As You Like It" in Stratford for the RSC with Vanessa Redgrave, "Peer Gynt" for the Old Vic with Leo McKern and "Miss Julie" for the National Theatre with Albert Finney and