WATCH: Daniel Evans says farewell to Chichester Festival Theatre

It will be a while, Daniel says, before it truly sinks in that he has left the festival theatre where he has been artistic director for the past seven seasons.

“It's very, very strange. I can't really put it into words. I don't think it will hit me until a few months’ time. I don't think my brain or my body has quite caught up with it. Maybe I've been in deep denial or maybe it's just the fact that I will be coming back for various things like Quiz in September. But there's no doubt that I'm going to miss this place hugely. I am going to miss (executive director) Kathy Bourne, I'm going to miss the team, I'm going to miss the theatre, I'm going to miss the stage, I'm going to miss the audiences. And I'm going to miss our chats and I'm going to miss so much about this place. I'm going to miss the landscape. I'm going to miss my runs along the coast and my walks up the Trundle and I'm going to miss the Youth Theatre but at the moment I just feel so grateful for the kindness and the support that people have shown me and how wonderful and loyal everyone was during that awful period of Covid.

“When you look back on Covid now, it's crazy what we had to go through because we just had no idea what was happening but what got us through was togetherness. We were all in it together and when we could have that hour’s walk a day, the hour’s exercise, I would go for long walks with Kathy and we would just talk through everything about what we're going to do. And then the Cultural Recovery Fund really helped us. We didn't apply for it first time round because we were not eligible because of the silly rules but then it really did help us but I think what also helped us was the energy that came from the innovation that we had during that period. We had the live streams, the fact that we streamed Crave and the fact that we streamed South Pacific. All of that gave us energy and then we were able to come together to create an outdoor space in the park and I just remember that audiences that came along were just so grateful that there was live music that they could enjoy at last, and I remember the gratitude of the actors that they would come down and actually do something even though we had to rehearse in masks. The point was there was no road map. We were all listening to the six o'clock briefing just to know what was happening but even then we didn't really know what was going on.

“But I look back and I realise that I learned so much about the theatre because of the pandemic. I've learned that you never ever underestimate the audience and their passion and their love for the theatre – and maybe that's particular about Chichester. Remember that some people here go back to the early days of Olivier’s time and there is a huge soul in the theatre that brings us all together. It is a comfort and it is a challenge and it's something that is so special about Chichester. So yes I learned that you never ever take an audience for granted in terms of thinking you know what they want. The things that you think are going to be absolute bankers on the stage turn out not to be bankers at all, but then you put on something that you think is going to be really challenging and, OK maybe you don't sell all the tickets, but the audience is just so incredibly appreciative. You don't have to play safe and as time evolves and as our audience’s appetite evolves then you know that you have to take risks because that's where the gold is. I don't mean gold in terms of box office gold. I mean gold just in terms of pure theatrical experience.”

The fact is, as Daniel says, we are now living in a very different world: “I do think the theatre has changed and that it should change. There is that old expression ‘plus ça change’ but the fact is there are some things that remain and that will always remain but the fact is the theatre should always move forward and I think the great thing is that we have done that in Chichester. We've had very, very high quality productions on our stages but in terms of change I do think that we are seeing a much more inclusive audience and much more diversity in the voices on our stages. The work that happens in our community is even more amplified and celebrated now, and many more different sections of our community are much more involved than they were before. And I think that was part of the reason why I was appointed in the first place. Actors and actresses from the global majority are now very much part of our season every season and everything is so much more inclusive.”

All of which, you could say, offers reasons for staying. Except Daniel believes that change is absolutely part of the lifeblood of theatre: “And I hope these are all things that are perhaps springboards for Justin (Audibert), my successor. Justin should of course take the theatre in the direction he wants with Kathy but I would hope that these would be diving-off points for him.”

Also part of the change in recent times at the theatre has been the massive digital innovation the venue has seen: “We have become so much more digitally innovative and savvy. Every production is now captured. Sometimes we can't immediately share the streaming with people but we've captured the shows for our own archive and maybe if the rights issues change we might be able to share them with everyone.”

Now it is the RSC which beckons for Daniel where he will be co-artistic director with Tamara Harvey: “I am very excited and I'm not undaunted. It is a big leap. And I think that the staff is something like ten times the size and it's a national organisation. The level of responsibility increases. But I'm not doing it alone. I will be with Tamara, someone I have known for decades and love working with. And I just feel like my time in Sheffield and now my time in Chichester has prepared me for this role but really I would like to pay tribute to Kathy Bourne. She has been such an amazing partner and friend and adviser in Chichester. Sometimes she comes to me for advice but really she has taught me so much about leadership and I'm now prepared to roll up my sleeves for the RSC.”

But as he leaves, which two productions from his time at Chichester, one from the main house and one from the Minerva, will Daniel look back most fondly on?

“I do think top of the list has to be Caroline, or Change (a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner), partly because it was such a risk. We really didn't know how the audience were going to take to this story set in Louisiana during the civil rights movement but the audience immediately took it to their hearts and it ended up on Broadway.

“But there was also something about the first season and Fiddler On The Roof. It remains the highest grossing musical Chichester has ever had but I just think there was something about that particular piece. It was such a pertinent musical for now about displaced people but there was also something about the staging of it. We had real fire and we had real rain it really felt like the theatre was using every inch and every resource that was humanly possible and physically possible. It is a great memory.”