THE THEME of this year's Festival at Chichester Festival theatre is "Con Art", so the star performer should feel right at home.

It's TV impressionist Alistair McGowan.

Alistair is in two of the festival's productions, including the satire How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which opens on Friday April 29.

From the writer and composer of Guys and Dolls, this hilarious musical depicts the ruthless ambition of win-

dow cleaner J. Pierpont Finch.

McGowan's versatile vocal cords will be perfectly suited to his role as the "voice of the book" and the prod-uction will run throughout the 2005 Festival until Saturday September 10.

Alistair will also appear in one of the most famous comedies in world theatre, The Government Inspector.

A brand new English version of Nikolai Gogol's masterful 1836 Russian play stars Alistair as the character of Khlestakov, an average man who exploits corrupt government officials when they mistake him for an important inspector.

This production opens on Friday, June 24.

Indeed, the themes of trickery and deceit run through many of this summer's Chichester Festival Theatre productions.

However, the theatre's "May Madness" offer is definitely not a con.

This means that everyone will have the chance to see a show for just £10.

For ticket information, call 01243 781312.