The play’s the thing: fabulous Barn Theatre’s 2025 season

The Barn Theatre, Cirencester, has gained national recognition since launching in 2018, and the 2025 season is set to be a cracker.

For full details of all the plays and to book your tickets, go to barntheatre.org.uk

Willy Russell’s heartwarming classic 
Educating Rita (16 May – 28 June)

In early summer, Barn audiences can enjoy a new production of Willy Russell’s classic play, Educating Rita, directed by Stephen Unwin. 

Rita, a working-class hairdresser, wants more from her life. When she signs up to an Open University course, she meets Frank a middle-aged, disillusioned academic.  Rita’s zest for life re invigorates him, and a journey begins. Willy Russell’s timeless classic is a story of class, power, freedom and self-discovery.

The 1980s stage play by Willy Russell was made into a movie in 1983, starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, winning multiple awards. It remains a British classic, captivating the hearts of audiences for decades.

AGE GUIDANCE: 11+

Hilarious and nostalgia-packed musical 
Friends! The Musical Parody (14 July – 23 August)

The Barn is proud to partner with producers Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale and Oskar Eiriksson to create the brand new production of Friends! The Musical Parody, opening in Cirencester before a major UK and Ireland tour.

A side-splitting musical comedy packed with all your favourite moments, plus a runaway bride and some questionable sandwich habits, this Friends, The Musical Parody serves up nostalgia with a side of sarcasm and lots of OH. MY. GAWD energy!

Originally produced in NY by Theatre Mogul and Lynn Shore, this uncensored, fast-paced romp features an entirely original musical score and showcases the escapades of the world’s most famous group of 20-somethings as they tackle the challenges of work, life and love in 1990s Manhattan.

Directed by The Full Monty’s Michael Gyngell, with book and lyrics by Bob and Tobly McSmith, music by Assaf Gleizner and set and lighting design by Andrew Exeter.

AGE GUIDANCE: 13+

Making (radio) waves
Haywire – A not-so-everyday story of how The Archers was born (1 September – 11 October)

A cornerstone of the 2025 Built by Barn season will be the world premiere of Tim Stimpson’s play Haywire – A not-so-everyday story of how The Archers was born.

Audio soap The Archers is the longest running daily serial in the world, first broadcast in 1951.This new play whisks the audience back to halcyon days when families gathered around their wirelesses to listen and lose themselves in the lives, trials and tribulations of a fictional farming community. 

Set in a cold British December in 1950, the play follows producer Godfrey Baseley as he assembles a group of actors in a studio above a used car showroom in Birmingham, to record the first ever episode of this great British institution.

Haywire is a fond and funny celebration of one of British media’s most enduring creations, paired with a deep affection for the craft of radio, and an exclusive invitation to experience the tears and laughter, the triumphs and calamities, that can happen both in front of and behind the mic.

AGE GUIDANCE: 12+

Moving and thought-provoking musical revival 
The Last Five Years (20 October – 15 November)

The penultimate show of the season will be musical classic The Last Five Years, written by Tony Award winning Jason Robert Brown. The action follows Cathy and Jamie as they navigate their marriage, their creative careers and the trials that come with intertwined lives.

The Last Five Years is a musical that cleverly explores the rollercoaster journey of two New Yorkers as they navigate their five-year marriage. Filled with iconic songs, the play first Premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was produced off-Broadway in March 2002; 2014 saw the release of a film adaptation starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

AGE GUIDANCE: 13+

Return of the barn’s 2019 hit festive show 
A Christmas Carol (1 December – 4 January)

The Barn Theatre’s 2025 Christmas show will be a new production of Alan Pollock’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Premiered at the Barn in 2019, this is a fresh take on this magical story, but bolder and bigger than ever. 

A Christmas Carol is sure to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy this winter as it traces moving tale of Ebenezer Scrooge who — on Christmas Eve — is forced to confront his legacy, and experience the magic and mystery of ghosts from his past, present and future.

AGE GUIDANCE: NO AGE REQUIREMENT