News: Barn Theatre premieres new song cycle with ‘one shot’ stream

For one night only, Barn Theatre premieres a new song cycle, as an innovative live ‘one shot’ digital concert. Set to stream on 1 April at 6:30pm, this will be the Barn’s most ambitious livestream to date.

Marking associate artist Matthew Harvey’s first collaboration with the venue, Now or Never is a new British song cycle with an ambitious and exciting digital twist. It follows seven people as they take a defiant act of positivity in what could be their last week on Earth.

Developed with the intention of writing about individual responses to a global adversity, without writing specifically about the pandemic, Harvey said, “What’s been really inspiring to me, and probably the driving force behind Now or Never is the amount of good that has been happening in spite of the pandemic, especially within the theatrical community. I’ve watched countless streamed productions and even a handful of in-person ones that have been defiantly thrown together with love, from a community that have really struggled throughout the pandemic, but are still doing what they love, wherever and whenever they can. So, I wanted to write a song cycle that was all about hope in the face of catastrophe.”

An innovative digital spin presents Now or Never as a non-stop, one-shot, song cycle, with one camera navigating the entire building, featuring seven characters by moving between seven spaces. 

Now or Never is written by Matthew Harvey with creative direction by Ryan Carter. Freddie Tapner acts as musical supervisor.

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