Ever wondered what we’re up to when there’s no shows on at CFT? The few weeks between the end of the Winter season and the start of the Festival is known as our ‘dark’ period.

As our technical director Sam Garner-Gibbons explained to Phil Hewitt from the Chichester Observer: ‘When the theatre closes every year, lots of people think it is a nice break for us but the reality is that it is an incredibly busy time. We've got to get ready for the next Festival season and for the rest of the year after that.’

What’s keeping our technical team busy? From computers to cabling, lanterns to lifting equipment, there’s all sorts that needs checking, sorting and repairing.

The stats are pretty impressive!

• 800 individual theatre lighting units are taken down, dusted, cleaned and put back together
• 80 amplifiers and 200 speakers are tested and cleaned
• 4,600 metres of cabling is checked end-to-end (long enough to reach from here to Goodwood!)

And as Sam says: ‘The dark period is a bit of a misnomer, since we’re still open front of house and have people in the building every day.’

So, if you’re popping in for a coffee and cake or to use our Family Friendly spaces or free WiFi, spare a thought for the technical teams hard at work behind-the-scenes to get everything shipshape for the lights coming up on stage again...

Watch or read the full interview with Sam Garner-Gibbons here