Signs that Spring is on the way: snowdrops and crocuses, longer days and the announcement of the new season at Chichester Festival Theatre. We're lucky to have one of the best producing theatres in the country within easy distance.

So what treats are in store this year? I can't afford to go to everything at Chichester so I have to make choices. It seems like I'll be spending most of my time in the lovely little Minerva Theatre. No problem for me because I love its intimacy. 

I plan to see William Wycherley’s 300-year-old The Country Wife which is filthy and wickedly funny and Michael Frayn's masterpiece Copenhagen which is well deserving of a revival. 

I'll have to wait until November but I'm looking forward to The Watsons, in which Laura Wade imagines the characters trying to complete Jane Austen's unfinished novel. Of the new writing, Charlotte Jones' The Meeting is my outside bet for the season's winner.

Also at The Minerva, a double bill of plays by debbie tucker green (yes, that's how she writes her name) random/generations should be worth reviving. I'm not so sure why CFT has revived Cock. I can only think that playwright Mike Bartlett is seen as a ticket seller after King Charles III and Doctor Foster because this supposedly shocking play about relationships is pretty limp. 

Turning to the main Festival Theatre, I always look first to see which classic musical will be sprinkled with CFT's stardust. This year it's Me And My Girl, which is a wonderful feelgood musical and perfect for Chichester. They are so good at putting on musicals that I can imagine it in the West End already.

Me and my girl probably won't be going because we saw it so many times when I was working at The Mayflower. One of the stars back then was the hugley talented Gary Wilmot who can be seen in the Festival Theatre later in the year in a new musical Flowers For Mrs Harris based on a story by Paul Gallico. With a book by Rachel Wagstaff and music and lyrics by Richard Taylor, this has the makings of something very good.

Also in the main house are the necessary auditorium fillers, classics that will please audiences but probably not set the world on fire (and there's nothing wrong with that). Noel Coward's Present Laughter stars Rufus Hound. Penelope Keith takes the lead in Enid Bagnold's humorous, moving The Chalk Garden.

In the autumn, David Walliams' children's story The Midnight Gang has been adapted by Bryony Lavery with music and lyrics by Joe Stilgoe. With a pedigree like that, it could offer something to adults as well.

[Corrected 19 February 2018: Previously I gave figures on female directors that  were incorrect. I said 8 were directed by men and only 3 by women. In fact the figures are 7 and 4 respectively. I also said there were no female directors in the main house. In fact The Midnight Gang is directed by Dale Rooks. CFT have also pointed out that the gender balance of the acting company will be 50:50, all three new plays this year are by women, and six of the 11 shows are written or co-written by women.]

Paul Seven Lewis can be seen on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews and writes a theatre blog oneminutetheatrereviews.co.uk