THE inaugural season at The Barn Theatre in Cirencester will conclude next month with Olivier Award-winning play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright which opens on July 7.

Following critically acclaimed productions The Secret Garden and One Minute, the play was first produced in 1992, and voted third best play of the decade.

It has been named as one of the top 50 best plays in the history of theatre.

Its film adaptation, Little Voice (1998) starring Jane Horrocks in the title role was also a huge hit receiving an Oscar nomination alongside numerous other awards for its screenplay and cast.

The cast includes newcomer Sarah Louise Hughes in the title role of Little Voice; Gillian McCarthy (Mari) and Angela Phinemore (Sadie) with direction by Michael Strassen.

Further casting will be announced shortly.

Little Voice tells the heart-warming story of a reclusive Northern girl-next-door whose remarkable ability to impersonate the great singers provides her with an opportunity to transcend her tragically unappealing domestic life.

But pushed by a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking mother and coaxed into the limelight by her mother’s latest talent agent boyfriend, timid 'Little Voice' will need to conquer more than just stage-fright if she is to find her own voice in the world.

Iwan Lewis, Artistic Director at The Barn Theatre, said: “Little Voice is a modern British classic and it’s the perfect play to end our inaugural Season.

"Michael Strassen is one of theatre’s great directors and it’s very exciting to welcome such excellent and prolific creatives to our theatre to bring his radical interpretation of Little Voice to The Barn.”

See The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at The Barn Theatre from July 7-August 4. Box Office barntheatre.org.uk or call 01285 648255