This was the first modern thrust theatre to be built in Britain which gave all of the audience a clear view of the stage. It was funded by local businesses and individuals and opened in 1962 overseen by it’s first director Laurence Olivier.

At first there was some doubt that a place like Chichester could support a World Class Theatre, there have been the occasional hiccup, but many productions that started here have gone on to the West End and some to Broadway.

For some productions the numbers of theatre goers was thought to be putting a considerable strain on the city until British Rail put on an extra train back to London after the show to ease the pressure. One regular passenger remarked that it was a rail journey like no other in Britain as everybody was discussing what they had just seen on their way back to the capital.

Now I knew all of this, because I grew up here. What I didn’t realise until yesterday when I was reading a novel by Chetna Maroo was that in March 1983 the longest squash match in history was played in a perspex court on the stage of the festival theatre. It took Jahangir Kahn 2hrs and 46 minutes to beat his opponent on that day. That record was finally broke by an extra 4 minutes in Canada in 2015.

The theatre has started to plant trees in Oaklands Park where it is based. Each tree, 28 so far, has been planted to help people remember productions that have been staged here.