ARTISTIC director Jonathan Church and executive director Alan Finch announced today that they are to step down from their respective roles at Chichester Festival Theatre at the end of September 2016.

Both Church and Finch joined Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005, overseeing the organisation’s 50th anniversary in 2012 and the £22m redevelopment of the Festival Theatre.

Under their tenure, the company has produced more than 100 productions, including 22 new plays, winning 40 awards for the work and more than doubling audience numbers, playing to 95 per cent capacity in 2014.

The theatre has also enjoyed significant success beyond Chichester during their leadership, with 48 productions transferring to the West End or securing international and UK tours.

These include Lucy Prebble’s ENRON, Macbeth with Patrick Stewart, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd, Private Lives, King Lear with Frank Langella, The Pajama Game and, more recently, Church’s production of Taken at Midnight and Gypsy, directed by Jonathan Kent.

The process to appoint a new artistic director will begin in August with the board expected to announce a successor at the end of 2015. The new executive director will be appointed once the artistic director designate is in place.