Acclaimed theatre company Come You Spirits is the newest resident at Century venues The Concourse Chatswood, and Darling Quarter Theatre in Sydney.
This exciting collaboration marks a new chapter in the cultural offerings of both venues. Come You Spirits will deliver a dynamic season of theatrical, and education-focused, Shakespeare works, to theatre-loving audiences across the year.
Come You Spirits, led by company founders Charles Mayer and Jo Bloom, uses the works of the Bard because 'every character shares with the audience the innermost truthful secrets of their soul, and the language used to convey the wonders and mysteries of the natural world reminds us that we all have a superpower somewhere'.
The company will present a bold reimagining of 'Macbeth' at both venues in New South Wales – placing the witches in the story as powerful elemental forces who are deeply connected to the rhythms of the earth, and the wisdom of the body.
To learn more about the production, and these new residencies for Come You Sprits, we spoke to co-founder Jo Bloom.
Come You Spirits has brought Shakespeare to some wild and wonderful places. What made you want to bring your work into more traditional theatres like The Concourse and Darling Quarter?
After three years performing in tunnels, on tall ships, in stone circles and open fields, we felt it was time to bring our work into spaces that could hold it more consistently – and allow more people to experience it. The Concourse and Darling Quarter offer us not just beautiful venues, but homes where intimacy and impact can still be felt. We’re not shifting away from our roots – we’re expanding them. These theatres become another kind of landscape, where we continue to explore connection, imagination and story with our audiences. It also allows us to reach student audiences in huge capacity, performing the plays they are studying for a matinee show at a time that many of them study the play.
Congrats on becoming a resident company! What does it mean for you – and for Come You Spirits – to call these two venues home?
It’s a huge honour. Being named a resident company gives us both stability and creative freedom – a foundation to grow. It means our work is recognised not just as a show, but as a contribution to the cultural fabric of these venues and communities. For a small independent company, it’s also a gesture of backing and belief from Century Venues – and we’re deeply grateful for that. We’ve always paid our actors and crew professional wages (even at significant personal expense) and that does something to the foundations of the team and the work.
Your upcoming production of ‘Macbeth' recasts the witches in a pretty unexpected way – as elemental forces. Can you tell us what inspired that reimagining?
We’ve always felt the witches are less about trickery and more about truth – about calling forth what already lives inside Macbeth. They have a powerful and real connection to access ancient practices and wisdom. We imagined them not as eerie outcasts, but as forces of nature: air, earth, water and fire. They are not here to cast spells, but to stir something ancient and real – the deeper knowing that exists in all of us.
You’re working with First Nations dancer Ella Havelka in this production – what has it been like blending her dance background with Shakespeare’s text?
Working with Ella has been a powerful honour. Her movement brings a grounded, ancestral energy that speaks louder than words – it deepens the story in a way that can be felt in the body. There’s a natural meeting point between Shakespeare’s rhythmic language and Ella’s embodiment of land, spirit and story. Her presence invites the audience to engage on a deeper, more instinctive level.
Jo Bloom
Shakespeare’s witches are usually spooky and mysterious – what kind of energy are you hoping audiences take away from your version of them?
We hope they feel stirred – not just spooked. Our witches hold power, yes, but it’s not about fear. It’s about awakening. They act as a mirror, reflecting the choices and desires already present in Macbeth. . . And perhaps in us too. Their energy is one of truth, not terror. It’s an invitation to sit with our own shadows and to know we always have a choice.
Come You Spirits is known for tapping into nature and the senses – how do you keep that earthy, visceral feeling alive when you’re working inside a theatre space?
We treat the theatre as a living space – not a box, but a body. We bring the same attention to breath, sound, light, and physical presence as we would outdoors. The audience isn’t seated to observe from a distance; they’re surrounded, involved, addressed. We bring the wild into the room with us – it’s in the way we move, speak, and relate. The actors still meet the audience at the start of the show and with so much direct address the audience still feels seen and involved. The set is also crazy good with a moving set piece working as a roaming witches' caravan.
‘Macbeth' is one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays – what do you think keeps audiences coming back to it, centuries later?
Because it holds up a mirror to the parts of ourselves we don’t always want to look at – ambition, fear, regret, hunger, love. And because at its core, 'Macbeth' is about choice: that we are never simply victims of fate. The supernatural may be present, but it’s the very human decisions that echo longest. Each generation sees themselves in it anew.
With this new residency, you’ll be presenting work all year round. Can you give us a little teaser of what’s to come after ‘Macbeth'?
Yes – we’re developing a brand-new original work titled 'Perchance To Dream', written by award-winning playwright Damien Ryan. It draws on Shakespeare’s mystical and alchemical language, blending myth, memory and magic into something deeply human and contemporary. We’ll be hosting an industry reading later this year as the next step in its evolution.
Your work has a really strong educational focus too – why is that such a big part of your mission as a company?
Because young people deserve theatre that speaks to them with honesty and fire. We don’t water anything down – we meet them with respect and intensity, and they rise to it. For many students, our performances are the first time Shakespeare feels like it belongs to them. We’re here to open the door – and leave it wide open.
Finally – in just a few words, how would you describe the Come You Spirits experience to someone who’s never seen your work before?
Alive. Honest. Magic. Shakespeare, felt in the heart and the bones.
'Macbeth' plays The Concourse Chatswood 5-9 August, and Darling Quarter Theatre 13-15 August.
