Cirencester College is excited to welcome Barbara Diesel, a former Performing Arts student, back to the Cirencester stage in February with her one-woman show ‘Dear Eliza’.
Barbara studied at Cirencester College between 2017-2019 and gained a double distinction star in Performing Arts, and an A in A-level Film Studies.
Barbara is about to go on tour with her one-woman show, ‘Dear Eliza’, which was shortlisted for the Best Newcomer Award at the Greater Manchester Fringe. The tour begins in Manchester, and Barbara will also perform in Bristol, Liverpool, and London, before her final performance at the College’s very own Sundial Theatre on Tuesday 27th February.
“Dear Eliza is a short, one-woman show exploring the deterioration of friendship under the strain of ill mental health”, said Barbara, “It’s very raw and cynical and candid, but it’s playful and funny, too! There are so many underlying messages, but what I want to emphasise most is the exploration of learning to live with a mental illness and learning to be okay with being mentally ill.”
“Finishing my tour at the Sundial Theatre feels fitting in so many ways, and I can’t wait to return; my two years at Cirencester College were some of the best years of my life! On a personal note, I came out of my secondary school really quite ill, and unable to cope with schooling. The chance to study what I love, in an environment championing incredible pastoral care and student freedom, genuinely turned my life around and I don’t say that out of exaggeration/ Dear Eliza is a tribute to the reality of life as a person living with a long-term mental illness and I wrote it as a person now completely comfortable with owning that fact about myself. A huge part of that journey happened at Cirencester College.”
Kelly Domaille, one of Barbara’s former Performing Arts lecturers, said “Barbara was an amazing student of Performing Arts. I remember her enthusiasm for all performance disciplines. She consistently worked hard and was an absolute pleasure to teach. A highlight of her time with us must be her fantastic final performance of Pippin. We are so proud of what she’s achieved in her career”
Dear Eliza will be at the Sundial Theatre Tuesday 27th January at 7pm and you can get your tickets now via ticket source: Dear Eliza at Sundial Theatre event tickets from TicketSource
