Last Wednesday evening England played their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years. It seemed everyone was glued to their televisions as Gareth Southgate’s men faced Croatia for a place in the World Cup Final. That’s everyone except the sell-out crowd at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester who were enjoying a stunning performance of ‘The Rise and Fall of Little Voice’.

The Barn Theatre only opened its doors for the first time in February, and since that first production the theatre has been riding the crest of a wave, with tickets for productions selling out in increasing regularity. The mastermind behind the remarkable success of the new theatre is Welshman Iwan Lewis, who is on a mission to make the Cirencester theatre one of the leading performance venues in the country.

“It’s been a whirlwind few months that’s for sure,” Iwan said. He continued: “I can’t really think how it could have gone better, ticket sales are great and audiences are leaving happy, that’s the most important thing. To get a full house in on the same night that England were playing in a World Cup semi-final was unbelievable. It reinforces our belief that there’s still a huge appetite for theatrical performances and people want to engage in the arts.

“I’m incredibly thrilled to be where we are at the moment. It’s taken an unbelievable amount of time and effort from so many people to get to this point and we’re still in the very early stages of our development. Our aim when we opened was to make The Barn Theatre the number one entertainment venue in the Cotswolds, somewhere that’s recognised across the entire country. We all share the same vision and we won’t rest until The Barn Theatre is established as top-class performance venue.”

Iwan, who hails from Llandeilo in West Wales, used to visit Cirencester as a child where he would perform in plays. He’s now living in the Cotswold town and says the idea to open a theatre has been a long-term plan of his. Iwan continued: “I used to visit Cirencester in the summer holidays as a budding young actor, so I know this community and I’m very passionate about the Cotswolds. When I progressed into my career as an actor I always thought Cirencester deserved a theatre of this stature, one that gives a platform to up-and-coming young actors, directors and producers.”

Some people view theatre as an elitist hobby, but that couldn’t be further from the truth according to Iwan, who is working hard to make the Barn Theatre an inclusive venue. He continued: “Some see theatre as an elitist event but that simply isn’t the case. If you go to London you’ll see that theatre is incredibly accessible and that’s the core mission of what we’re doing here in Cirencester. I want to bring in new audiences, especially the younger generation who have Netflix subscriptions, which shows they have a passion for great stories being told. Some people think theatre is just Shakespeare or musicals but that’s simply not the case. There’s amazing work out there that audiences of any age will enjoy. With theatres closing down and drama being dropped as a subject in schools, it’s worrying times. But that just made me more determined to work as hard as I could to get the Barn Theatre up and running.

“My main focus now is to get out into the community and really promote the value of the theatre. There’s people out there who don’t know about theatre and what it can do for them. Theatre isn’t just about sitting down and watching a play, it can promote confidence, encourage debate and help people find their voice.

“We need to be creating work, whether that’s professional work on the stage or community work that inspires the local area to support our venture. We’re an unsubsidised charity and we will require our community to support what we’re trying to achieve, so survival is the number one aim. I’ve no doubt we have the ability to make The Barn Theatre one of the very best performance centres not just in Gloucestershire but also the country.

“I want to spread to the word. It would be great to take productions to Edinburgh, London, Liverpool and all the big cities. The absolute dream would be to take a production to the West End.”