Please note: performances of Crave - both in person and live streamed - will continue up to and including Wednesday 4 November. From Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November, the play will be staged behind closed doors at the Theatre and streamed live to audiences at home.

In a damaged world, four characters search for the light.

Angry, funny, defiant, kind and cruel, Crave is a deeply personal meditation on the meaning of love. Pulsing with loss and longing, its resonance will be doubly powerful as we begin to reconnect our lives after the loneliness and seclusion inflicted by a global pandemic.

Originally due to play in the Spielgeltent this autumn, Crave will be staged to a live, socially distanced audience in the Festival Theatre and – in a first for Chichester – simultaneously live-streamed to global digital audiences. 

This unique production will feature a sensory sound and videoscape created by director Tinuke Craig, designer Alex Lowde, lighting designer Joshua Pharo, film designer Ravi Deepres and composer Anna Clock, with movement by Jenny Ogilvie.

Sarah Kane is considered to be one of the most influential playwrights of the 20th century. She came to prominence in 1995 with her seminal first play, Blasted. Over her short career she wrote five plays and a film. Crave premiered in August 1998 at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Today, her plays are performed around the world.

Erin Doherty makes her Chichester debut. Currently playing Princess Anne in series 3 & 4 of The Crown, she has played leading theatre roles, including at The Old Vic, Young Vic, Royal Court, and Manchester Royal Exchange. Born and brought up in West Sussex, she was named an Evening Standard Rising Star and a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2018, and featured in The Elle List 2020.

Alfred Enoch also appears at Chichester for the first time. Having played Dean Thomas in seven Harry Potter films, his theatre credits include Red (West End & NT Live), Coriolanus (Donmar Warehouse), Tree (Young Vic) and Timon of Athens (National Theatre). Television includes Sherlock and How To Get Away With Murder.

Wendy Kweh’s extensive theatre credits include The Welkin and Top Girls at the National Theatre, Julius Caesar at The Bridge, Snow in Midsummer for the RSC and Chimerica in the West End; this is her Chichester debut. Her television appearances include several series of Holby City and The Bill.

Jonathan Slinger returns to Chichester where he last appeared in Yes, Prime Minister (2010). His many roles for the RSC include Hamlet, Prospero, Macbeth, Richard II and Richard III, while recent West End appearances include City of Angels, Fanny and Alexander, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Urinetown. His recent TV includes The Salisbury Poisonings and I May Destroy You.

Tinuke Craig’s production of random/generations was a highlight of Festival 2018; since then, her work includes The Color Purple (Curve Leicester).

Purchase a digital copy of the programme

Our programmes are designed to be the perfect insightful companion to the production. In this programme, CFT Artistic Director Daniel Evans recalls working with Sarah Kane. The programme also contains rehearsal photos, biographies, an insight into the design and other background reading material.

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Purchasing a digital programme does not include the purchase of a printed programme.