WITH their second show about to open, The Barn Theatre is preparing for another opening night.

The Secret Garden musical which inaugurated the stunning new Cirencester venue back in March, was such a hit they had to extend its run.

This time it’s a play and it will be directed by the venue’s very own Artistic Director, 29 year old Iwan Lewis.

One Minute is by Simon Stephens’ whose adaption of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won the Olivier and Tony Awards for best new play (National Theatre), 2012.

Simon also writes for radio and film and is Artistic Associate at the Lyric Theatre and Associate Playwright at London’s Royal Court theatre.

Running from May 19-June 16, the cast of One Minute includes star of Bad Education, Sherlock and Misfits, Jack Bence; Rebecca Crankshaw, Sarah Hanly; Gary Summers and Sophie May Wake.

One Minute is directed by Iwan Lewis and produced by The Barn Theatre; movement direction is by Naomi Said with an original soundtrack by Harry Smith.

The play is a disquieting portrait of lives that are united in the single moment it takes for a child to disappear.

One Minute follows several connected characters through their struggles with Daisy Schults’s disappearance: the two policemen investigating the disappearance; Daisy’s mother Anne; and Marie Louise, a woman who believes she glimpsed Daisy after she had been separated from her mother.

Robert is new to the police force, and his enthusiasm for the case is keener than that of his cynical colleague Gary. Mary Louise begins a strange friendship with a woman who knows Gary from the café where she works.

Anne’s life has stopped: she wants to know when ‘missing’ becomes ‘presumed dead’.

Iwan said of his directorial debut: “I’m delighted to direct One Minute. We follow these stories in the media, we get totally wrapped up in the story, they become part of our lives and then suddenly you hear nothing more.

"Some people have to live the rest of their lives with these tragedies. I’m interested to explore how the world has changed since the play was written in 2002, with the huge influence that digital media now has on our lives, and how that might translate in terms of the characters’ experience.

"Simon is one of the UK’s most exciting playwrights and it’s incredible to be bringing this quality of work to the Barn Theatre.”

To book tickets please go to barntheatre.org.uk