Overview
Just days after the new queer-led arts space Divine Playhouse announced it was facing eviction from its deconsecrated church, the venue's lease has been terminated. Opened on Wednesday, July 8, the venue was initially slated to be called Unholy Playhouse, offering a safe and inclusive space for, but not exclusive to, the LGBTQIA+ community.
However, founder Kat Dopper — the multidisciplinary arts practitioner behind Sydney pop-ups including Heaps Gay and Pleasures Playhouse — made a last-minute venue name change after consultations with local Christian groups. While the meeting ground for art, culture and community launched as Divine Playhouse, it quickly attracted protests from local religious groups who claimed the venue's irreverent use of religious iconography amounted to mockery.
According to Guardian Australia, the venue received a breach notice, ordering it to "cease engaging in offensive trade" after around 70 people from groups including Fit for the Kingdom and the Prodigal Sons protested its opening night. Located on Kent Street in Sydney CBD since 1858, the church was deconsecrated — meaning stripped of its religious blessing or sanction — in the 1930s and has since operated as a children's school and theatre space.
Now, the venue's lease has been terminated by its landlord, Revelop, a commercial property building and development company. "It's over. Our lease terminated, our artists cancelled, our venue being cleared out. We believe this termination was unlawful and unjust. I am devastated. I am angry — for us, for our artists, for this city and its people," Dopper said in the statement posted on Instagram.
At the time of the venue's uncertain future, Sydney-based drag queen Fran Giapanni launched a petition to keep Divine Playhouse open as a queer performing arts venue. Days later, the petition has been signed by almost 18,000 people, while a GoFundMe to raise funds to support legal efforts and losses has generated close to $40,000. At the heart of the issue remains who decides what art is acceptable.
Dopper and Divine Playhouse are now planning a peaceful 'sing-in' rally at Hyde Park from 12pm on Saturday, July 25, as it begins the search for a new venue. "If we don't fight, they learn that intimidation works," said the statement. "Divine Playhouse was never just for LGBTQIA+ audiences. It was for everyone. It wasn't a nightclub — it was an inclusive, accessible community arts centre. And now it's gone."
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Images: Anna Hay.