Chichester Festival Theatre artistic director Justin Audibert delighted with summer season

“We have had a really positive reaction in terms of audience numbers through the building, and the shows have been varied and exciting. Plus the sheer appeal of Oliver! has been remarkable. We have regularly had not a single seat to be found.” In fact, Oliver! will go down in history as the Festival Theatre's biggest selling musical ever.

“The source material is amazing but you have still got to deliver and they delivered in spades thanks to the amazing team and amazing experience that Cameron Mackintosh brought to it in terms of the attention and care he gave it. The whole thing has just been really joyful.”

It seems a long time ago now but The Other Boleyn Girl set the ball rolling at the start of the season: “The Other Boleyn Girl is something I'm really proud of it and of the way it got the season off to a bang. I think it really helped to create a lot of the positive vibes that have continued. Since then all the shows have been different but the thing that has been consistent about them all is the quality of the productions and the quality in the acting which I believe is very, very unique for outside London.”

Inevitably with Justin's first season in charge there has been a learning curve: “And I suppose my learning would be around getting my balance right and that's kind of weighted by Redlands and The Cat and the Canary being two big comedies both at the end of the season. We're going to end really joyfully and there's nothing wrong with having them on together but maybe I could have got the balance better. Every day you're trying to think what the balance could have been and what you can learn but certainly The Cat and the Canary at the end and Redlands at the end feels like a great way to say farewell for the time being.

“But the other big learning for me has been around the theatre green book which is the approach to productions where what you're trying to offer is rather than just buying things, you are trying to reuse things and reclaim things to use again later in the season. And in terms of the green book with The Caretaker we reached the highest standard. But I do feel that sometimes elsewhere we failed to meet the basic standard which is still a very high standard. I think it comes down to the clarity of what we set out to do but hopefully we will just get better and better at it. But the point is understanding that you don't have to compromise on the quality and the artistry to follow the green book. The green book is a living document and we have done well but there have been moments when we haven't done as well as I would have liked.”

Closing the summer season is The Cat And The Canary, a classic example of the horror/comedy genre, having woven its macabre fascination for over 100 years. Carl Grose adapts John Willard’s tale for a new co-production with Told by an Idiot.