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),
Paul Unwin (director) "Shameless" (Company Pictures, Channel 4) and "Breathless". "Breathless" screened on ITV in Autumn 2013 and in the US in 2014. As a theatre director his work includes ""The Man Who Had All the Luck"" by Arthur Miller at the Bristol Old Vic and the Young Vic, "The Misanthrope" at the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal National Theatre, "The Master Builder" at the Bristol Old Vic", Hamlet", "Othello", "In Times Like These" by Jeremy Brock. His artistic directorship of the Bristol Old Vic was a remarkable period and launched the careers of several of Britain’s foremost actors and directors. As