Sadness and excitement as Chichester Festival Theatre's Oliver! nears the end of its run

And while there will certainly be a sense of grieving for Chichester, there will also be a huge sense of excitement as the show’s adult company starts to look forward to its London transfer later this year.

“It has been one of those strange things. You can never really predict what the reaction is going to be to something that you are inside of and I have done many projects that you feel so passionate about and where you feel you are giving it your all and then when you put it in front of the audience, it is met with disgust and your artistic self just crumbles! It happens a lot! But with this one I have never felt more certainty about a piece that I've been involved in.”

And that certainty was fully realised: “And for so many reasons. A: it is Lionel Bart and Oliver! is just bomb proof, isn't it? And B: it is directed by Matthew Bourne, and Matthew Bourne is a genius. He has a vision and his team have a vision, and the two work so symbiotically with every department. There is a cohesion there. There is an understanding of total theatre and craft and they accomplish it. And often you just don't get that. You have departments working against each other or a lack of communication but with Matthew as the figurehead of the ship, he is absolutely capable of bringing everything together perfectly.

“And also you have got Cameron Mackintosh, and Oliver! is something very special to his heart but also I think you've got to admire the casting department. They brought together a group of talented people who also have an unique gift in that they are creators and not just actors. It is not just ‘Stand on four!’ (a number on the stage), a kind of approach that takes away your creative licence where you are just being told where you've got to stand. We've got these people that create, that are magicians or comedians or storytellers or writers and they have all got agency of their own work. It means that we're able to take the text and just roll with it. It has become ours. It really has. Obviously there is guidance and there is a steering in a certain direction but really the show has become ours.”

And part of the fascination is that it has changed massively since the beginning: “There is no show that wouldn't because there are so many human variables. Each show every night reflects the mental state of every single actor on that stage but also there are just so many small and nuanced things that change. So I definitely think that the show would feel different now (for anybody who saw it earlier in the run). Press nights are very difficult because you have the added pressure that everything will be written down in indelible ink forever more but once you get a couple of weeks into it then I think you can get so much more of a feel for the detail and the nuance and also your thought processes evolve. I think that's very natural. Things grow and they change.”

And so inevitably the final night will bring euphoria and a degree of sadness: “It is going to be a mixture of the two but we're not leaving the show. The show is continuing in London and we'll all be back together. There won't be the grief that you get at the end of a short run but I think the fact is that when you're in a show together you create familial bonds because you're away from home and away from your tribe. You make those connections. So yes there will be a grieving process because we have so much loved the connection with the people in Chichester and with Chichester itself. There will be a window of mourning but at the same time this really has been the happiest time that I've ever had in any regional theatre. The way that the theatre is set up to look after the actors is just absolutely extraordinary.”