A vast spectrum of brick-and-mortar locations has seen their doors shutter in the past year. Galleries, performance spaces, stores—few have been spared from financial difficulties, and it has resulted in a large number of permanent closures. And especially given that it is no small feat, it comes as some surprise that a new Olympia Theatre has just been announced as in the works for London.

With a projected opening date of 2025, the new Olympia Theatre is a massive addition to the U.K. theatre scene. For starters, it will be the largest theatre constructed in London since the National Theatre first opened in the 1970s. The announcement of the theatre comes as part of the £1.3 billion development plan for rejuvenating the Olympia area as a world-class cultural district, a project helmed by design and architecture group Heatherwick Studios.

Courtesy of Haworth Tompkins.

The interior of the theatre will be designed by famed architectural studio Haworth Tompkins, known for their innovative work on artistic spaces and theatres. The company states: “The proposals include extensive foyer spaces spread across 7-floor levels, bars and back-of-house areas housed within the Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC designed multi-level building.” It is certain to be a grand design fitting of the Olympia rejuvenation.

Owning and operating the new Olympia Theatre will be Trafalgar Entertainment. Already running Trafalgar Theatre in London, Australia’s Theatre Royal Sydney, as well as the properties of HQ Theatres across the U.K., Trafalgar are clearly keen on maintaining and improving the state of theatres on an internationally relevant scale.

There is always a question about the importance of major regional theatres and the grand spaces that they are. The cost of maintaining them is an ongoing concern for many, let alone in a time where the world is just starting to see light at the end of the tunnel from the global pandemic. But with luck and leadership, the new Olympia Theatre is certain to become a vibrant new fixture in the bright constellation of the London theatre scene.

In advance of their recently announced and newly revamped 2021 season, the Stratford Festival has decided to give theatre lovers some weekly works to look forward to. Streaming live on Thursday nights, the beloved Ontario Shakespeare and theatre festival is presenting offerings from their STRATFEST@HOME program for free. Using a similar model to the lauded National Theatre At Home that began last year, these snippets of the STRATFEST@HOME programming are a tantalizing preview of what the company has available. Their most recent presentation was none other than the play that must not be named- Macbeth.

A recorded experience from Stratford’s 2016 production of Macbeth, the production was directed by Stratford artistic director Antoni Cimolino, Shelagh O’Brien directing this filmed version. Ian Lake plays the titular would-be King of Scotland with Krystin Pellerin playing opposite him as Lady Macbeth, and the two work in potent juxtaposition. From the moment Lady Macbeth hears news of her husband’s plans and possible future, the intensity Pellerin conjures in that desire is so palpable and rooted in self-assured strength. And in gorgeous contrast, a tortured conflict can be felt underpinning Lake’s performance as he enacts his woeful plans and comes to terms with the ramifications. An integral part of the tragic protagonist and the bubbling of it throughout makes his downfall all the more disheartening.

The visual strength alone of this Shakespearean tragedy makes a resounding first impression. Utilizing lighting design to an intense and ensnaring effect, this production gives immense weight to the opening of the Weird Sisters. Truly cloaked in darkness at their emergence, there is a horrifying stillness to the world as they present themselves for the first time, weighing what we see for the rest of the run against the powerful gloom. Lanise Antoine Shelley, Deidre Gillard-Rowlings, and Brigit Wilson perform the prophetic witches masterfully, the sound and visual elements of the production not only enhancing their rituals but leaving what feels like echoes of these influential forces across all the play’s action.

Ian Lake as Macbeth in Macbeth. Photography by David Hou.

It is not solely in the inception of the story and the revelling of the Weird Sisters that light is used to profound effect. Rather, it is not the light that feels used, but the lack thereof. The flames of this world feel tightly wrapped by the nearby shadows, always in danger of being choked out, and the first time we see much of any light at all is to surround and draw eyes to the empty, awaiting throne. This general sense of scarce light as well as its deliberate uses at heightened moments—the cauldron of the Weird Sisters, the brutally fast-paced and sharply framed sword fights, Macbeth and Macduff being swallowed by shadow in the climax—seems like a strong thematic choice in this story of falling stars.

While the majority of the footage is shot in fairly standard stage-to-screen methods, there are certainly some interesting uses of the changed medium in this project. Most notably, in the inaugural celebration of Macbeth’s crowning, the reveal of Banquo’s spectre is delivered in a dramatic POV shot. The gruesome visage of the slaughtered ally stood amongst the guests all facing towards the camera makes for a shocking and effective use of the medium and is a good indicator that other digital offerings from Stratford will have the same edge to their delivery.

Stratford’s Macbeth is a traditional presentation of the classic play, but it is a skilled execution of this classic. An attention to the core emotions that run beneath this tale of power is always at the surface, reminding of the humanity that exists within the prose. It is a strong offering by the Shakespearean icons, and luckily with STRATFEST@HOME, there’s more where that came from.