![An image of a young boy's face painted in brown and black ink and paint, with visible splotches and brush strokes. The boy is looking straight ahead with an innocent expression, his hair is swept to the side. In the background is a London skyline including St Paul's Cathedral.](https://sc-cft.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/Festival-2024/F24-show-artwork/Oliver-web-header-2000x860-NEW.jpg?w=1280&h=550&q=100&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.5937&fp-y=0.3974&dm=1707828856&s=96bb14d2f3c9b848c4029588a63b2b49)
Oliver!
Book, Music and Lyrics by Lionel Bart
Freely adapted from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist
Revised by Cameron Mackintosh
About Oliver!
Pure theatrical pleasure
WhatsOnStage
Tunes, glorious tunes!
Mail on Sunday
Glorious
Daily Mail
A winner
The Times
Bottled joy: guaranteed to put a spring in your step.
The Telegraph
A slick, sumptuous affair, a visual delight
The Stage
Gallery
This spectacular new production of Lionel Bart’s iconic musical has been fully reconceived especially for CFT by director and choreographer Matthew Bourne and Cameron Mackintosh and promises to be one of the most unforgettable shows ever at the Festival Theatre.
The orphaned Oliver escapes the harsh Victorian workhouse and takes refuge in London’s murky underworld with the wily gang leader Fagin and his team of resourceful pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger. He finds a friend in the kind-hearted Nancy and when he’ s wrongly arrested for stealing, Oliver meets an unexpected saviour; but is happiness truly within his grasp?
With a sensational score, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You’ve Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two, I’d Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah, As Long As He Needs Me and many more, the Olivier, Tony and Oscar-winning masterpiece vividly brings to life Dickens’ ever-popular story of the boy who asked for more.
Matthew Bourne is internationally renowned for reinventing classics including Swan Lake and Edward Scissorhands for his company New Adventures, as well as his Olivier Award-winning choreography for My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins (which he co-directed and also earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography) and his recent acclaimed direction and musical staging of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. The stellar creative team includes designer Lez Brotherston (Fiddler onthe Roof, Me and My Girl, Flowers for Mrs Harris).
The cast includes Simon Lipkin (Guys and Dolls, Avenue Q) as Fagin, Shanay Holmes (Miss Saigon, The Bodyguard) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (Henry VI, Wicked) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (Les Misérables, BBC’s Dodger) as the Artful Dodger and Philip Franks (The Rocky Horror Show, Witness for the Prosecution) as Mr Brownlow.
Oliver! is a Chichester Festival Theatre production in association with Cameron Mackintosh.
Cast and creatives
Simon Lipkin
FaginShanay Holmes
NancyAaron Sidwell
Bill SikesBilly Jenkins
The Artful DodgerPhilip Franks
Mr BrownlowOscar Conlon-Morrey
Mr BumbleKaty Secombe
Widow CorneyStephen Matthews
Mr Sowerberry/Dr GrimwigJamie Birkett
Mrs Sowerberry/Mrs BedwinCallum Hudson
Noah ClaypoleIsabelle Methven
BetLochlan White
Charley BatesHarry Cross
DandyCian Eagle-Service
Oliver TwistRaphael Korniets
Oliver TwistJack Philpott
Oliver TwistRachael Archer
CompanyTegan Bannister
CompanyAdam Boardman
CompanyBethany Huckle
Swing/Dance CaptainEbony Jonelle
CompanyBethan Keens
CharlotteDanny Lane
SwingPeter Nash
CompanyJosh Patel-Foster
CompanySam Peggs
CompanyJasmine Sakyiama
SwingWendy Somerville
Old SallyLeah Vassell
CompanyMatthew Whennell-Clark
Company
Fagin's Gang: Toba Agbelusi, Zoe Akinyosade, Ben Birch, Finley Burrows, Preston Cropp, Benjamin Dalton, Kylan Michael Denis, Sebastian Elton, Liam Findlay, Rudy Gibson (Alternate Artful Dodger), Stanley Guy, George Hamblin, Lily Hanna, Charlie Hodson-Prior (Alternate Artful Dodger), Grace King, Cooper McCrae, Jonny Niland, Hugo Pechey, William Skinner (Alternate Artful Dodger), Dylan Xavier and Aaron Zhao.
Matthew Bourne
Jean-Pierre van der Spuy
Lez Brotherston
Graham Hurman
Paule Constable
Ben Jacobs
Adam Fisher
George Reeve
Stephen Metcalfe
William David Brohn
Etta Murfitt
Sam Archer
Claire Llewellyn of Rc-Annie Ltd
Felicity French CDG
Paul Wooller CDG
Verity Naughton CDG
Tom O'Brien
Jaye Elster
Huw Evans
Joseph Bisat Marshall
Teresa Nagel
Ollie Durrant
Tom Lee
Nicki Brown
Irene Bohan
Lily Mollgaard
Matt George
Mike Mansfield
Simon 'Snappy' Wood
Lou Bann
Hope Marshall
Jess Hardcastle
Henry Reeder
Booking info
About booking infoWe want you to feel welcome at CFT. You’ll find guidance on content here; please be aware that by reading this, elements of the plot may be revealed. Please note that this may be updated nearer the time of the production as staging details are confirmed.
If you have any questions or feedback, or would like further information, do email us at [email protected].
Content and themes
True to Dickens’ novel, the script contains some mild and discriminatory language reflective of the period; depictions of violence towards men, women and children including gunshots; and themes of poverty, hunger and crime in Victorian society.
We want you to feel welcome at CFT. You’ll find guidance on content here; please be aware that by reading this, elements of the plot may be revealed. Please note that this may be updated nearer the time of the production as staging details are confirmed.
If you have any questions or feedback, or would like further information, do email us at [email protected].
Content and themes
True to Dickens’ novel, the script contains some mild and discriminatory language reflective of the period; depictions of violence towards men, women and children including gunshots; and themes of poverty, hunger and crime in Victorian society.
PricingPreviews / Press Nights, prices from
- pink
- £10
- green
- £15
- orange
- £19
- yellow
- £32
- blue
- £48
All other performances, prices from
- pink
- £15
- green
- £22
- orange
- £39
- yellow
- £54
- blue
- £69
Previews / Press Nights, prices from
- pink
- £10
- green
- £15
- orange
- £19
- yellow
- £32
- blue
- £48
All other performances, prices from
- pink
- £15
- green
- £22
- orange
- £39
- yellow
- £54
- blue
- £69
Offers
Friends
- Friends:
- £2 off full price tickets
Discounts and concessions
- *Season saver 3+ shows:
- 10% off full price tickets, see more details below
- Over 60s, weekday performances:
- £2 off full price tickets
- Full-time students in higher education, Jobseekers Allowance and Universal Credit claimants weekday performances:
- Half Price
- Full-time students in higher education, Jobseekers Allowance and Universal Credit claimants weekday performances:
- Standby from one hour before the performance: £10.00
Families
- Family tickets, except Saturday evenings:
- Half Price for up to four U16s with every full price paying adult. Tickets must be booked and paid for in a single transaction. Just select the U16 option for the under 16 tickets in the basket and discounts will be applied at the checkout stage (after the basket)
Groups
- Groups 8+, Monday and Tuesday:
- £35 per ticket
- Groups 8+, Wednesday - Friday:
- £5 off each ticket
- Groups 40+, Wednesday - Friday:
- £8 off each ticket, plus a £5 ticket for the Group Organiser
Schools and student groups
- Schools and student groups 10+, weekday performances:
- £10.00 per ticket; one free teacher ticket with every nine paid
Ticket prices
Listed prices, accurate at on sale, are subject to change in response to demand. Book early for the best prices.
Festival Theatre
Discounts apply to top three price bands only (apart from Schools and Student Groups)
Some seating areas may not be available for all performances
*Season savers
Available on FULL PRICE tickets only:
Must book the same number of tickets (up to four tickets per production) for three or more shows
Festival Theatre shows - Band A, B, and C tickets only
Minerva Theatre shows - Band A and B tickets only
All Season Saver tickets must be booked and paid for in a single transaction.
Not available on Previews, Press Nights, Relaxed or Dementia Friendly performances, CFT Summer Gala, Hey! Christmas Tree or Cinderella
Friends
Up to four discounted tickets per production
Groups
You can book up to ten tickets online, just keep your tickets at FULL PRICE and the discount (if applicable) will be applied at the basket. Want to book more? Email [email protected]
All tickets
Only one reduction applies per ticket, and all discounts are subject to availability and at the discretion of the Box Office. ID may be required for certain discounts and events. Discounts do not apply to Previews, Press Nights, Dementia Friendly, Relaxed or Gala performances
Tickets are non-refundable
If you return your tickets to the Box Office at least 48 hours before the performance, you can exchange your tickets for the same production on another date (subject to availability). There is a £2 exchange fee per ticket (free for Friends and Festival Players)
Access tickets may be available for Access Members
Log in to your account to see Access seats. Select the relevant Access tickets in the basket to receive your discount (where applicable)
£5 Prologue Tickets may be available for 16-30 year olds
Log in to your account to see Prologue seats
Your visit
Getting here
Coming by public transport?
To plan your journey from door to door on public transport visit traveline.info for the quickest route.
Rail
Chichester Station is a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute taxi ride away, with regular direct links to London Victoria, Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Gatwick Airport. Connect to London Waterloo trains at nearby Havant. Visit nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 484950 for timetables, restricted services and other details.
Walking directions from the station (20 minute walk):
Head out of the main entrance towards The Foundry Pub, walk past the pub with it on your left and straight up South Street until you come to The Cross (stone monument) which indicates an intersection of four streets. Continue straight ahead up North Street. At the top of North Street is a ring road, take the pedestrian underpass to North Gate Car Park and continue through the car park to reach the Theatre on the far side.
Bus
The number 60 Stagecoach bus stops near the Theatre. Visit the Stagecoach website for more information.
Bring a coach group?
Coming with a large group? The coach drop-off point is outside the Festival Theatre with a coach park in Via Ravenna.
Planning a bike tour?
We're linked to the city’s cycle lane network and our bike park can hold 26 bicycles. It's right next to the Pimlott Building by the park, just off the Theatre’s access road. chichester.gov.uk/cycling
Car-pooling with friends?
The M27 and A27 run along the coast, linking Hampshire, Sussex and Kent. The M3, A3, A29, A259 and A24 connect Portsmouth, Southampton, Mid-Sussex and London. Use the map above for directions to Chichester Festival Theatre. It's also worth looking out for scheduled roadworks on the West Sussex Council website.
We'd encourage you to think green and minimise car travel where possible but recognise that driving may be your only travel option. If so, you have the option to carbon-offset your journey for £1, when booking your tickets. This £1 goes directly to Ecologi to support carbon-offsetting projects and international tree-planting programmes. Read more about this partnership here.
Parking
Northgate Car Park (PO19 6AA) is a 900-space council-run pay and display car park right on our doorstep, which charges from 8am until 8pm Monday - Saturday and 10am until 5pm on Sundays. You can pay by cash, card and contactless and the MiPermit app - chichester.gov.uk/mipermit
As we're so conveniently located, the car park can get very busy with city centre shoppers as well as our audiences. Allow plenty of time to park (especially if you're coming to a matinee!) and consider alternative car parks in Chichester. You can find all options at chichester.gov.uk/parking.
Parking for disabled patrons
If you have a Blue Badge you can park anywhere in Northgate Car Park free of charge. There are 9 non-reservable spaces close to the Theatre entrance. Visit Chichester District Council for other available car parks.
We have a 'drop off' area in front of the Theatres, which you can access from the Broyle Road entrance.
Catch CFT's Theatre Bus
Want to see that show but there’s no public transport to get you home? Wish you could get to the theatre more sustainably? Travelling by train but finding the walk to CFT tricky?
Check out our Theatre Bus schedule*
*We're delighted to offer this free service from Selsey on selected performances of Coram Boy, Oliver! and Redlands and Chichester railway station on selected performances of Oliver!, and The Caretaker.
Accessibility
Accessible toilets
Toilets, washrooms, bathrooms or loos - whatever you call them, it's likely that you'll want to visit ours while you're here.
We have two fully accessible toilets in the Festival Theatre Foyer (one on each side) and another in the Festival Theatre (auditorium left, adjacent with row L), plus one on each level of the Minerva Theatre.
We also have two sets of ladies and gents in the Festival Theatre and another two sets in the Minerva (offering a total of 63 cubicles, four of which are ambulant, and 27 urinals), so there's no shortage of places to spend a penny.
Accessible performances
You can filter what's on by access need and you can find accessible performances on each of the separate production pages as well. We hope this will make it easier to find what you need but if you have any queries or suggestions let us know at [email protected]. We'd love to get your feedback!
For wheelchair users or people requiring step-free access
- There is level access across the CFT site with lifts available to other levels.
- The Café on the Park and our restaurant, The Brasserie, are fully wheelchair accessible and offer brilliant coffee and great dining experiences.
- 16 wheelchair spaces are available across two levels in the Festival Theatre and we have two spaces in the Minerva Theatre. Call or email Box Office on 01243 781312 or [email protected] to book your space (or register as an Access member to book online).
- Want to transfer from a wheelchair into a theatre seat? Let us know in advance when you book and we can help you.
- Wheelchairs are available to borrow if you need one when you get here; email [email protected] to reserve yours in advance.
- Not in a wheelchair but have limited mobility? Walking sticks, crutches and walking aids can all be taken into the theatres and if you can't fit them safely under your seat we'll store them for you in a safe location. We'll do our best to get them back to you swiftly at the end of the performance but please allow extra time in case our Front of House team are busy elsewhere.
If you find an area of our building where access is restricted (unfortunately there are a few), our Box Office and Front of House team members have all completed accessibility training so have a chat to them. They'll happily answer questions or take on feedback to share with the rest of the organisation.
For people with visual impairments
- Audio described performances provide friendly live commentary over discreet headphones. Pick up your headset from our cloakrooms in the Festival Theatre or outside the Minerva auditorium. (And as an added bonus, we'll share a "pre-description" with you before the show just to give you a taste of what's to come.)
- Free touch tours are available 90 minutes before audio described performances so you can explore the set and costumes. Make sure you book your space in advance.
- All seat row ends and individual seats have Braille signage and we can provide a Braille or large print cast list for all Festival season productions.
- Our season brochures are available in large print or audio format (we're on Soundcloud or contact [email protected] and we'll send you a CD).
Can't make our audio described dates? Let our House Manager know ([email protected]) and we'll see if it's possible to arrange an alternative.
For those who are D/deaf or hard of hearing
- At BSL interpreted performances a British Sign Language interpreter stands on or at the side of the stage and interprets the spoken word and sound effects.
- Stagetext captioned performances provide English subtitles either on a screen above or to the side of the stage, or on a personal tablet in specific seats. Our Box Office can make sure you're booked into a seat that gives you a good view of the captioning units so contact them on 01243 781312.
- We record and caption many of our pre-show talks and make them available on YouTube.
- Both theatres are equipped with Infra-Red audio enhancement system and you can pick up a headset at our cloakrooms before the show for free.
- Hearing aid user? Switch to the 'T' position once inside the auditorium to use our induction loop system. Handy tip: this system works best if you're sat in the centre of the auditorium so chat to our Box Office (01243 781312 or [email protected]) when booking if you'd like to use this service.
- We have a chat function available on the website and can answer questions via email if helpful at [email protected]
We carry out regular checks on these systems but sometimes technology unfortunately fails us. If you're having any difficulties whatsoever, make sure you speak to a member of staff as soon as possible so we can try to fix the problem.
Seat widths
In the Festival Theatre, seats vary from 500mm wide to 560mm wide. In the Minerva Theatre they are either 515mm wide or 520mm wide. All our seats have fixed armrests. Click here to download plans for both venues showing the widths of the different seats.
Please give our Box Office a call on 01243 781312 or email [email protected] if you would like any further information.
Coming along to one of our audio-described performances?
Listen to the pre-description for the Audio Described performances before you get here.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold: The Audio Described performances will take place on Friday 20 September at 7.15pm and Saturday 21 September at 2.15pm.
The pre-description will also be available live before the audio described performances.
Get Involved
Purchase a digital copy of the programme
Explore the show in more detail with our programmes. The programme for Oliver! is packed full of articles and photos about the show. Producer Cameron Mackintosh looks back at his remarkable association with Lionel Bart, whose life is also explored by critic Matt Wolf; director and choreographer Matthew Bourne and designer Lez Brotherston talk about their 30-year partnership; and we look at the life and ever-popular work of Charles Dickens. Plus rehearsal photos and biogs of the cast and creative team.
By clicking on BUY you'll be taken to Issuu's website. The programme will be available to read and download from their website and app.
Purchasing a digital programme does not include the purchase of a printed programme.