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),
Stephen Unwin (director) and dozens of others. In the early 1990s, he became Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio. He launched the English Touring Theatre in June 1993, where he directed twenty productions, many of which were seen at the Old Vic, the Donmar, the Lyric Hammersmith and others. He stepped down from ETT in 2008 after fifteen years at the helm. He became the second Artistic Director (after Sir Peter Hall) of the Rose Theatre, Kingston. He has also directed in Europe and in British repertory theatre. He was joint winner of the 2003 Sam Wanamaker Award with Barrie Rutter, and