New Theatre Productions – an essential part of the Festival of Chichester and of the Chichester Festivities for many years before that – celebrates 45 years this summer.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers and also
00:07Chairman of the Festival of Chichester. Now one of the absolute highlights every year
00:12without fail of the Festival of Chichester is the new theatre productions in the glorious,
00:17absolutely glorious West Dean Gardens. And as always, it's the double bill and Peter
00:22Breskell who runs the company, always lovely to speak to you. You've got something really
00:26special for this year, haven't you? Because it is a special year, the 45th anniversary
00:31of the company. And that must be such a lovely thought, a thought full of pride that the
00:38company has endured so well and remained so popular.
00:43Yes, that's very true, Phil. We started all those years ago with our mentor and leader
00:49John Hart, who's sadly no longer with us. But we've managed to maintain the kind of
00:55event that he started and we've carried it on. And this year is a very special year for
01:03us personally, because it's actually five years since the 40th, which you may well remember
01:09because you made a lovely speech at that time. And I was upstaged by John giving his speech.
01:18You were, but then we were all upstaged by John. But it's such fond memories of him and
01:25in his spirit, I'm doing my level best with others to carry on the tradition. And this
01:31year, we're doing two completely different types of productions. The first one is Tom
01:38Jones, which I'm actually directing, and it's a period play. It's described as a ripe, rich,
01:47gaudy romp, which gives you some idea of what it's like. And it's just great fun. There's
01:54lots of nice characters involved, and there's a good story involved as well. And what we're
02:01doing with Tom Jones is being as inventive as we can be, because we're at a great advantage
02:10being in the open air. It's lovely there. But it's not always so easy to stage things
02:15as they're written in the script. So we've had to be a bit inventive on how we use the
02:20spaces and create the rooms of which particular scenes are taken. But we think we've done
02:26that very effectively. And the one abiding factor that I think will really appeal to
02:32a lot of people is that there's been a tremendous amount of hard work from a lady called Marco
02:37Todd, who has provided all the costumes, period costumes, wigs and everything else involved
02:42with that. And so if you couple the lovely, colourful costumes with the beautiful backdrop
02:50at Westin at the Pergola, with some inventive, I hope, direction and performances, I think
02:58you're going to find a very entertaining evening.
03:00It sounds fantastic. Now, one of John's great principles, wasn't it, was to provide contrast.
03:06And you're offering something rather different in the other piece, aren't you?
03:10Yes, we are. Very much so. We wanted to provide that contrast, as you say. I've got some very
03:16talented people who are performing an entertainment called Mixed Doubles. Mixed Doubles was written
03:25by several leading writers, including, I mean, I can't mention them all, but Harold Pinter,
03:33Lyndon Brook, Faye Weldon, the list goes on. And they are duologues and monologues with
03:40the theme of marriage. There is entertainment in it, there's humour, there's pathos. There's
03:48really a reflection on life through the years with these particular characters. And it's
03:56a nice, gentle way of coming to Westin and seeing something completely different to the
04:04other play. So with a bit of luck, most people would like to try both of them.
04:08Absolutely. And I often wonder, and I probably often ask you, how difficult is it to come
04:14up with two pieces that are sufficiently different, but which will work well enough together?
04:20Well, it's like all these things, it's really a matter of opinion. It comes from the heart,
04:27from what you've learnt. I mean, I learnt so much of whatever little I know from John.
04:33And you use this sort of, you get a feeling about things. You know where you're going
04:37to be performing. You know the audience that you're likely to get. And you try to then
04:43appeal to that audience in various different ways. And this year, we've got Mixed Doubles,
04:51which is an ostensibly modern day play, although it's sections of plays, but they all interlink.
04:59And that is contrasted completely with a large cast costume play for the other play.
05:07So if people like one or t'other, there is a choice. But with a bit of luck, it might
05:13well appeal to anybody who likes theatre in the open air to see both of them.
05:17Absolutely. And it's always the most perfect venue and the acting is always fabulous. And
05:22the welcome is one of the things I like most about new theatre productions. It's such a
05:26welcoming place to go. So, thoroughly recommend it to anyone. And it's an integral part of
05:33the Festival of Chichester and long may it remain. So Peter, good luck with the summer
05:37and lovely to speak to you.
05:40Lovely to speak to you and thank you very much for your support. And we look forward
05:43to being part of the Festival of Chichester again this year.
05:46Fantastic. Thanks.
05:47Thank you.