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'Daring' theatre to open in historic listed barn

Alex PopeBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
News imageOVO/Ian Cullen Five actors, in a barn, during a rehearsal. One person is on the ground, one is kneeling and three other people are standing up. Wooden beams are behind them. OVO/Ian Cullen
The first production in the newly adapted theatre will be Macbeth

The curtain is about to be raised on a series of "daring" theatrical productions in a historic 17th-Century threshing barn before it is renovated next year.

St Albans-based professional theatre company OVO said it had raised more than £1m to bring "Free Range Theatre" to The Barn in the city's Verulamium Park.

Its patron Dame Joanna Lumley said it would be a "worthy home for bold, imaginative and inspiring theatre".

It will present repertory-based theatre, giving an opportunity to those "less represented in the industry" to develop their craft, its founder and artistic director Adam Nichols said.

The Grade II listed building will be closed while it is updated into a 120-seat performance space during 2027.

Its latest offering, William Shakespeare's Macbeth, opens on Thursday.

News imageOVO The inside of a barn, showing a large old wooden structure, that is empty. There is a window to the left.OVO
Work is to be carried out on the barn's historic interior

Dame Joanna said: "This beautiful, atmospheric new space will be a worthy home for bold, imaginative and inspiring theatre that challenges convention and excites audiences.

"The Barn's new repertory company will provide crucial training and development opportunity for emerging actors, creatives and crew helping them to build a career in the theatre industry, especially those from under-represented backgrounds."

Nichols said: "The Barn is OVO's new canvas to dare mighty things.

"By employing people on a repertory basis, they are employed on longer-term contracts.

"It gives an opportunity to the less represented in the industry to be employed either as performer or creative and crew and to develop their craft and build that expertise and experience."

News imageOVO/Ian Cullen Adam Nichols, standing in a barn, with stage lighting around him. He is wearing a jumper, with a cap on, glasses and smiling at the camera. Two lights are above him and he has a beard. Wooden beams are behind him and a metal beam above and metal staging to the left.OVO/Ian Cullen
Adam Nichols said Macbeth was being staged in way that would make the audience feel they were "eavesdropping" on the conversations

He said the venue would be flexible but also have living spaces upstairs.

"We want it to speak for itself, it's not going to change that much," he said.

Nichols confirmed it would be fully insulated with a new sound system and heating.

The theatre company has other illustrious patrons including actors Ralph Fiennes, Brian Cox and Zoë Wanamaker.

News imageOVO/Mili Branston A person lying down on stage, on a wooden box, wearing shorts, jumper and boots. Another person with a blue T-shirt is to the right and a man standing, with a cap on, trousers and jumper. They are in a room with lots of wooden slates around them, metal scaffolding and lights. OVO/Mili Branston
The Barn is based in Verulamium Park

Macbeth will run until 8 November, The Winding Stair by Jesse Norman from 13-15 November and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol from 4-30 December.

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