Introducing UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE. A pop up arts, performance and live music venue in former Sydney church

Kat Dopper says of the venue: “Artists and audiences need sacred spaces, places where art, community and human connection can happen outside of our everyday lives. Dancefloors as worship, art as activism and culture as a shared experience. UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE is for the unpolished, the unique, the quirky and the emerging… artists with something to share. This building has a long history as a meeting place and home for the arts, and UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE is the next chapter in the story of this incredible and iconic building.”

A roster of local visual artists have been handed the keys to the church to adorn the walls with  contributions from Deborah Kelly, Nikita Majajas, Kim Leutwyler, Kee Kee James, Ian Thomas, Sarah Jessica Carpark, Green Peas For Breakfast, Brendan De La Hay, Domuism and more bringing the space to life, alongside Confessions Soundscapes by La Figa. All art will be sold once the residency closes, with proceeds going to youth LGBTQIA+ organisation Twenty10.

Victoria Falconer, fringe arts programmer contributing to UNHOLY continues: “In times like these, it’s easy for institutions and culture-makers to revert to mainstream tastes. But here is also when the weirdos work harder: counter-culture thrives, embracing artists and audiences who yearn for something more underground, more avant-garde. UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE holds this and so much more. I can’t wait to create some freaky and fun for the people to find!”

Pleasure comes from all the senses, and on the food and drink front, Newtown institution Bloodwood launches the venue’s first food residency each Sunday. The house pour is Unholy Water – a gin crafted locally at Marrickville’s award-winning distillery Ester. $1 of every Unholy Water sold at the bar will be reinvested into artists via an artist grants program, helping fund new creative work and performances within the venue.

Also lining the bar are Compa Tequila RTDs, featuring fruit-forward Tequila Sodas and Australia’s first 6% Ranch Water range. Made with authentic Blanco Tequila imported from Jalisco, Mexico, Compa delivers genuine tequila credentials, alongside a wider drinks menu including Inner West favourites Doom Juice, Grifter, new independent queer-owned vodka Tomboy and more.

UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE is produced by creative director and producer Kat Dopper, the mind behind larger-than-life Heaps Gay parties and the notorious Pleasures Playhouse – a previous series occupied in an abandoned Chinatown cinema that cemented her reputation for activating overlooked city spaces. This series is born from the desire to continue repurposing underused spaces, finding a new home for Sydney’s left-field nightlife and creative community.

Full programming and tickets at unholyplayhouse.com.au.

UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

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UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE
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