The Barn Theatre Archives - North West End UK

Barn Theatre’s 2021 Reopening Season Announced

15Jun

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NEWS

Barn Theatre’s 2021 Reopening Season Announced

The Barn Theatre in Cirencester have today announced their full 2021 Reopening Season, which includes the 25th anniversary production of Marie Jones’ Olivier award-winning tragicomedy Stones in His Pockets (27th July – 22nd August) and the world premiere of Simon Reade’s actor-musician adaptation of David Copperfield (28th September – 6th November) with the Christmas spectacle The Brothers Grimm Present: Cinderella running over the festive season from 16th November 2020 – 2nd January 2021. The season will also see An Elephant in the Garden return to the Barn from 31st August – 11th September following its award-nominated digital run earlier this year as well as the previously announced run of the Olivier Award-winning comedy Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense (15th June – 10th July...

Jeeves And Wooster in Perfect Nonsense to Return to Mark 14Oth Anniversary of P.G. Wodehouse

28Apr

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Jeeves And Wooster in Perfect Nonsense to Return to Mark 14Oth Anniversary of P.G. Wodehouse

The Barn Theatre in Cirencester and The Theatre Chipping Norton have announced that they will be remounting their 2020 production of the Goodale Brothers’ Olivier Award-winning comedy Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense to mark the 140th anniversary of o the author P.G. Wodehouse’s birth. In this joyous reimagining of the classic P.G. Wodehouse characters, three actors hurl themselves from role to role as they race to tell the story of Bertie’s own farcical adventures. Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense was created by the Goodale Brothers, adapted primarily from P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters. The show, which premiered at Richmond Theatre in 2013 with the lead roles being played by Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen, before transferring to the Duke of York’s Thea...

An Elephant in the Garden – The Barn Theatre

4Apr

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REVIEWS

An Elephant in the Garden – The Barn Theatre

The Barn Theatre continue their lockdown streaming with another riveting piece of theatre. Simon Reade directs this gripping adventure story set in the harsh times of 1940’s Germany. Lizzie and her family are seeking shelter from the calamities of the Second World War... and it looks like they have to take an elephant along for the journey. It’s hard to believe that Michael Morporgo could write another great animal-integrated war tale, after the huge success of War Horse. And, even more surprisingly, this one is based on a true story. When her father is enlisted, Lizzie’s mother finds work at the local zoo where she befriends the young elephant, Marlene. When their whole town erupts in flames, the family flee to find safety, and encounter numerous shouts of “Is that an elephant?!...

2Apr

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REVIEWS

Now or Never – The Barn Theatre

The Barn Theatre present an ambitious ‘one-shot’ song cycle for their latest lockdown offering, Now or Never. Matthew Harvey has written a collection of songs exploring how seven characters face a potentially life changing world event. His aim was to look at individual responses to global adversity without referencing the pandemic. Whilst he has managed to do this to an extent, the spectre of COVID-19 and its long-term impact looms large over the production, as characters decide to travel more, love without reservation, embrace adventure or quit that soul-destroying job. The songs are well sung by a talented cast (with standout performances from Irvine Iqbal, Ahmed Hamad and Eloise Davies) and Creative Director Ryan Carter provides the innovative approach as the audience ar...

Cast announced for The Barn Theatre’s LIVE ‘One-Shot’ song cycle Now or Never

29Mar

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Cast announced for The Barn Theatre’s LIVE ‘One-Shot’ song cycle Now or Never

The Barn Theatre have today announced the full casting and creative team for upcoming livestream Now or Never. Now or Never is a British song cycle with an exciting and ambitious digital twist. Now or Never is a song cycle written by associate artist Matthew Harvey, which follows 7 people as they each take a defiant act of positivity in their last week on Earth. The inaugural cast of Now or Never includes Eloise Davies (Be More Chill, Grease), Ahmed Hamad (Rent, Stay Awake Jake, The Boy in the Dress), Matthew Harvey (Les Misérables, Violet, Jesus Christ Superstar, Murder Ballad), Irvine Iqbal (The Boy in the Dress, Aladdin, Broken Wings), Lucy St Louis (Man of La Mancha, Motown, Beautiful), Katie Shearman (The Sound of Music UK Tour, Evita) and Courtney Stapleton (Dear Evan Hansen, ...

The Picture of Dorian Gray – The Barn Theatre

16Mar

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The Picture of Dorian Gray – The Barn Theatre

Oscar Wilde’s intoxicating Faustian tale of beauty, love and mortality is given a fresh and modern day treatment in Henry Filloux-Bennett’s adroit script. There have been many versions of Wilde’s dark morality tale and this particular digital adaptation using both video and film techniques alongside conventional theatre firmly places it in the world of social media and the power of the influencer where self- image and self- promotion rule the day. Wilde’s basic question is how far would a person go to achieve success and maintain personal youth, beauty and fame? As Wilde quoted “behind every exquisite thing that existed there was something tragic” and in every sense of the word the play mirrors his exact assumption. We are in dark unforgiving territory and Bennett’s clever script...

Fionn Whitehead to star in new digital production of The Picture of Dorian Gray

8Feb

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Fionn Whitehead to star in new digital production of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Fionn Whitehead, star of Dunkirk and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, will take on the titular role in an upcoming contemporary digital adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Most recently seen starring in the Lionsgate and Saban Films’ Don’t Tell A Soul, Fionn Whitehead is best known for his critically acclaimed performance as the protagonist Tommy in Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award nominated war film, Dunkirk. The Picture of Dorian Gray, from the team behind the celebrated digital production of What a Carve Up!, is set to push the theatrical form like its predecessor; utilising elements found in radio plays, films, documentaries as well as traditional theatrical techniques. Set in a profile pic-obsessed, filter-fixated world where online and reality blu...

Musical Daddy Long Legs to be streamed online later this month

8Feb

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Musical Daddy Long Legs to be streamed online later this month

The Barn Theatre have announced today that they will be releasing an archive recording of their 2019 Built by Barn production of the musical Daddy Long Legs for a limited number of dates over the Valentine’s Day and February half term weekends. The Built by Barn production, which stars Ryan Bennett (Jersey Boys, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Jervis Pendleton and Rebecca Jayne-Davies (Half a Sixpence, Singing in the Rain) as Jerusha Abbott, originally ran at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester from 2nd October – 2nd November 2019 and marked the first time that a UK theatre had produced the Drama Desk award-winning musical. Daddy Long Legs is set in turn-of-the-century New England and tells the story of orphan Jerusha Abbott and her mysterious benefactor who agrees to send her to co...

The Secret Society of Leading Ladies Goes Interactive

8Feb

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The Secret Society of Leading Ladies Goes Interactive

The Barn Theatre have announced an upcoming digital musical theatre event entitled The Secret Society of Leading Ladies, which provides a new innovative format that allows the viewer to make decisions and control the set list. The Secret Society of Leading Ladies, which will run from 22nd February – 7th March, takes audiences into a world where Musical Theatre characters can co-exist in the same space regardless of era or genre. The concept was created to reward die-hard musical theatre fans, whilst being mould-breaking enough to invite a new audience to discover the world of musical theatre. Conceived and directed by the Barn Theatre’s Ryan Carter, the event focuses on the archetypes of Female Musical Character, ranging from princesses and dreamers to villains and divas. Over th...