Find out more about Barn Theatre
Community has always been at the heart of everything we’ve done since opening our doors in 2018. Our aim was not only to become one of the leading producing house theatres in the country but to use that position as a platform to inspire, educate, and enrich people’s lives.
In 2019 we launched our NOT JUST A THEATRE campaign which helped to demonstrate everything the Barn contributed to the local community. We run our own theatre Academy for children who are interested in the arts , we’ve supported, hundreds of creatives; also thousands of children in their schools arts programmes, and provided technical, creative and logistical support to a number of major events in the town, including the annual Advent festival and the record breaking Human Poppy event in November 2018.
In March 2020 when theatres were closed due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the Barn faced its greatest challenge To survive we had to find innovative ways to cope with the current predicament, so in true Barn fashion, we utilised our technologic skills and creative flair to provide the community with a LIVE STREAMING service which covered everything from local and national news, children’s programmes and general entertainment, keeping people connected at a time of hardship, isolation and uncertainty.
When lockdown restrictions were eased, we were one of the first in the country to mount outdoor theatre. BARNFEST, which launched in the summer, featured a month-long list of programmes from children’s shows to Shakespeare and was a huge success with the Cotswold community.
Another first followed. We reopened indoor theatre in September to be one of the only UK venues to do so safely. Hailed by the Telegraph’s arts editor, Dominic Cavendish “as the shining beacon of light for the theatre industry,” the Barn’s production of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful was hailed a 5-star success. That success would also give us the opportunity to be the first new play to be staged in the West End of London, a huge achievement for the team.
We have not stopped there. We have plans to tour a number of our productions as we strive to fight back.
But theatre has not just been the only thing. We used the opportunity of “lockdown” to develop our media capabilities, and BARN MEDIA was born.
In a world where online content is going to become a necessity not an option, Barn Media will provide a valuable service for various organisations and businesses in the community and beyond to get their message out to the public.
BARN CINEMA is yet another development that we have initiated, providing the town with another service that was lacking in the community for several years.
We all understood that in the current world, we would have to evolve to survive, so adding these other elements MEDIA and CINEMA to support our Theatre would go a long way to ensure the financial future of the Barn for generations to come.
And now, at the start of the second lockdown, we present live streaming of It’s a Carve Up.
For bookings and information on productions, go to barntheatre.org.uk, 01285 648255.
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