EXCITEMENT is building ahead of the opening of The Barn Theatre in Cirencester as a professional producing house in 2018.

The new theatre is gaining support from various industry figures including Heida Reed who plays Elizabeth Chynoweth in hit BBC drama Poldark.

Heida, who films Poldark on location in the Cotswolds, has agreed to be an ambassador for the new venue. 

She said: “It’s great to see such generous investment in the arts, especially outside of London. The fact that this theatre project has been undertaken without any public subsidy is incredible. As an actor I’ve always loved working in smaller scale theatre spaces because they can often enable a deeper connection to be made with the audience.

"The theatre’s plans to champion new, up-coming talent represents a real commitment to nurturing the next generation of artists and creatives and I’m thrilled to be involved.” 

The Barn Theatre is a state-of-the-art new 200 seat theatre set to open in Cirencester early 2018. 

The unsubsidised, not-for-profit theatre will pursue a reputation as a major new producing house, attracting the best of UK theatre talent to the area and is the centrepiece of a £4.5 million development based at Cirencester's Grade II listed Ingleside House.

The development has been funded by businessman and local resident, Ian Carling and his wife Chrissie.

He embarked on the project in 2015 alongside the theatre's artistic director Iwan Lewis, with the joint vision of creating a lasting legacy for accessible professional theatre in the area, alongside the thriving Barn Youth Theatre project and teaching Academy (formerly known as Stage Smart).

The inaugural season is set to be announced soon. 

  • Visit barntheatre.org.uk for more.