Fred Pilbrow's The Stage Interview

After winning Theatre Building of the Year 2026 at the Stage Awards, Fred Pilbrow talks to the Stage, the world's longest-running publication for theatre professionals, about how new performance venues within underused retail spaces can help drive footfall and engage new audiences.

The original article appeared in The Stage on 12 February 2026 and was written by Katie Chambers.

Architect Fred Pilbrow - who is behind the new Capital Theatre in London's Westfield - has suggested the venue could be a "prototype" for successful performance spaces in shopping centres.

The founding partner of Pilbrow & Partners, which also worked on Soho Theatre Walthamstow, said the idea appealed to both commercial theatre producers and the operators of shopping centres keen to keep customers coming despite the rise of online shopping.

Billed as a 676-seat "state of the art" venue, the Capital Theatre is scheduled to open in October 2026 in Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush with a production of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage.

London's other Westfield in Stratford City is also set to become a performance venue, with immersive experience Phantom Peak planning a new, larger venue there scheduled to open this summer.

Pilbrow recalled Karl Sydow, who is running the Capital Theatre along with fellow producer Adam Kenwright, reading about department stores closing and becoming inspired to build a new theatre space there.

"[The Capital Theatre] is an idea that's being delivered with no public funding, but it's one that Karl thinks you could scale and replicate," he told The Stage.

"There are an awful lot of redundant department stores across the country. He's very confident, having produced Dirty Dancing across the world, that there would be audiences for it in Manchester, Glasgow, Hamburg, wherever. I think we would like to do more of them if it's a success. This is a sort of prototype."

"I was pretty confident that with a 700-seat venue, [Sydow] can sell that out for probably five years at a minimum, if not longer."

Working with a pre-existing retail building entailed some compromises, Pilbrow said, adding that the building would not necessarily work for "conventional theatre", but would be better for musicals and dance.

"What we've got is an in-the-round arena theatre. There are two columns in the way, but the audience won't mind, because [the show is] so dynamic. It'll work," he said.

Pilbrow said the leaders of Westfield were "really enthusiastic" about integrating a shopping centre into their west London building.

"As retail is changing, it's trying to drive more footfall to centres like Shepherd's Bush Westfield. They quite rightly think that an audience coming to see Dirty Dancing at the Capital Theatre is an audience who will use their restaurants and shop in their shops," he told The Stage.

Constantin Wiesmann of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns both Westfield shopping centres, said his company's recent research showed UK consumers, particularly younger audiences, were seeking more immersive entertainment experiences in destinations such as shopping centres.

(NLA Night photos credit: Nathan Piccio)