Barn News is the Barn Theatre’s online monthly members’ newsletter, lovingly put together by volunteer editor Mike Smith with the support of Clive Weatherley and John Cook. It grew out of our long tradition of printed Barn News, which for decades dropped through members’ letterboxes each month, packed with show previews, reviews, youth theatre news, club nights, Council updates and the all‑important “Dates for your diary”.

In early 2020 we took the plunge and moved Barn News online, partly because printing and postage costs were rising, and partly because the pandemic made popping round with a bundle of envelopes a lot less practical. The new web-based version is designed to be as straightforward as possible; just a simple page you can read on a phone, tablet or computer, with no passwords to remember and no attachments to wrestle with – if you can get on the internet, you can get to Barn News.

We really want this to feel like your newsletter, not just our bulletin board. That means previews and rehearsal gossip, certainly, but also your articles, letters, memories, photos, archive snippets, daft anecdotes from backstage and anything else that celebrates this amazing theatre club and the people who keep it buzzing. If something makes you smile, think, or mutter “they’ll never believe this in ten years’ time…”, it probably belongs in Barn News, so please do get in touch via the contact menu at the top of the page and join in.

Wishing you all well.

Mike Smith
Barn News Volunteer Editor