Game of Thrones star & first-ever Hamlet - Chichester Festival Theatre 2025 announced

Natalie Dormer, who played Margaery Tyrell in the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones, will star as Anna Karenina, Tolstoy’s romantic masterpiece in a new adaptation written and directed by Phillip Breen.

Also this summer, Giles Terera will play the title role in Hamlet, directed by CFT artistic director Justin Audibert in Chichester’s first ever production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

Announced today, Festival 2025 includes five world and two UK premieres, two musicals, and masterpieces from world drama. The company includes Mark Addy, Natalie Dormer, Beverley Knight, Tom Rosenthal, Jenna Russell and Giles Terera; directors making their Chichester debuts include Gregory Doran, Katy Rudd, Phillip Breen, Monique Touko, Kathleen Marshall, Hannah Joss, Anthony Lau and Roy Alexander Weise.

Musicals:

•Kathleen Marshall directs and choreographs a brand-new production of Irving Berlin’s classic tap extravaganza Top Hat

•A new musical, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, adapted by Rachel Joyce from her bestselling novel, with music and lyrics by Passenger, directed by Katy Rudd, starring Mark Addy and Jenna Russell

World premieres:

•Gogol’s satire The Government Inspector in a new adaptation by Phil Porter, directed by Gregory Doran, starring actor and comedian Tom Rosenthal

•Choir, a new play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti celebrating music and togetherness, directed by Hannah Joss

•Safe Space, a new play by Jamie Bogyo, delving into volatile campus politics, directed by Roy Alexander Weise

Classic and modern dramas:

•Natalie Dormer in Anna Karenina, Tolstoy’s romantic masterpiece in a new adaptation written and directed by Phillip Breen

•Beverley Knight in Marie and Rosetta by George Brant, directed by Monique Touko in a co-production with Rose Theatre and ETT

•Giles Terera plays the title role in Hamlet, directed by Justin Audibert in Chichester’s first ever production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy

•William Golding’s compelling adventure Lord of the Flies, adapted by Nigel Williamson, directed by Anthony Lau

For family audiences:

•The first stage production of Matt Haig’s A Boy Called Christmas, adapted by Philip Wilson with music by Tom Brady, performed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre to mark their 40th anniversary and directed by Dale Rooks

•Stiles and Drewe’s The Three Little Pigs, a co-production with the Unicorn Theatre for young families at Christmas

•The Nest, a new studio space for work by emerging artists, creative development and community projects, will open in summer 2025 after a successful fundraising campaign

The season has been announced by artistic director Justin Audibert and executive director Kathy Bourne.

They said: “We’re delighted to share our new season, which aims to include all the ingredients we know our audiences love including, of course, an unmissable summer musical. In fact, music of all kinds features strongly in several productions, from stimulating new work to classic masterpieces from the world stage.

“A sense of lives and society in flux is central to many of the dramas this season, with vivid characters facing momentous change – making for compelling storytelling.

“We’re continuing our policy of maximum theatricality in the Festival Theatre, with large casts and striking designs while in the intimate Minerva, we have four premieres as well as Chichester’s first ever production of Hamlet.”

Priority booking for Friends & Champions of Chichester Festival Theatre opens: Saturday, February 22 (online and booking forms only); Tuesday, February 25 (phone and in person). Booking for groups and schools opens: Thursday, February 27. General booking opens: Saturday, March 1 (online only); Tuesday, March 4 (phone and in person).

Tickets from £10: cft.org.uk or 01243 781312. Prologue: 9,000 £5 tickets are available for 16-30 year-olds across all Festival 2025 productions; sign up for free at cft.org.uk/prologue.