Artistic director Iwan Lewis and ambassador, actor Heida Reed
The Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden will be the inaugural production at distinctive new space, the Barn Theatre in Cirencester.
Opening on 16 March and due to run until 15 April, the first production at the 200-seat venue follows three years of planning, rebuilding and technical development.
The ambitious project to create a major producing house at the heart of the development of Cirencester’s Grade II listed Ingleside House has attracted support from leading Broadway director Jerry Mitchell and actors James Dreyfus, Matthew Kelly, Heida Reed and Daisy May Cooper.
With casting to be announced soon, the opening production will be directed by Dominic Shaw whose West End credits include Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, Legally Blonde and Kinky Boots.
Commenting on his involvement in the new venue’s first show, Shaw said: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to direct a new interpretation of The Secret Garden. I plan to completely reimagine the piece and make it more accessible for 
a contemporary audience. The musical explores themes of love, family and rejuvenation – all themes which draw parallels and seem fitting for the opening of a brand new theatre.”
Based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s much-loved 1911 novel, The Secret Garden has a script and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Marsha Norman and music by Grammy Award winner Lucy Simon.
Funded by local businessman and resident Ian Carling and his wife Chrissie, the Barn Theatre has benefited from over £4.5 million private investment in the acquisition and development of the site.
Working with former musical theatre performer Iwan Lewis who came on board as the venue’s artistic director in 2015, the couple’s vision is to create an accessible unsubsidised professional theatre. With Ian Carling as chairman and founder of the charitable trust that will operate the theatre, a fundraising campaign will be announced shortly.
On board as one of the Barn Theatre’s high-profile ambassadors, director and choreographer Mitchell took time out from preparing the new Broadway production of Pretty Woman The Musical to say: “I couldn’t be more excited about the Barn Theatre and its plans. Having worked with both Iwan and Dom on various productions, it’s great to see them now forging their own path as young leaders in the industry. It’s a very positive thing to see a new generation of artists come through. To watch the energy with which they are approaching the opening of the new theatre and the first production is fantastic.”
Angela Thomas
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