A 150-Year-Old Sydney Church Is Being Reborn As A Wild New Live Music Venue

Sydney’s nightlife has gone through a lot over the years. But in a city that’s spent the better part of the last decade mourning venue closures and debating whether culture still has room to breathe, a new project arriving this winter feels refreshingly… strange.

Introducing UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE – a pop-up live music venue, performance space, arts hub and bar taking over a 150-year-old deconsecrated church on Kent Street from Wednesday 8 July.

“Dancefloors as worship, art as activism and culture as a shared experience.”

And yep, the name is exactly the vibe. Created by Kat Dopper (the creative force behind Heaps Gay and Pleasures Playhouse), the heritage-listed former church – built in 1868 and previously home to Genesian Theatre – is being reimagined as a gathering place for Sydney’s weirder instincts.

Live music. DJs. Cabaret. Karaoke backed by a gospel choir.

Also on the launch slate? A Harry Potter caba-rave, an art ball, showtune singalongs, a late-night cabaret series called Holy Flesh, and perhaps most iconically of all: Possession – billed as Australia’s first live exorcism (!!)

Which honestly feels very on-brand for Sydney in 2026.

But underneath the chaos, there’s a more serious idea driving the project.

Kat Dopper says UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE was built around creating places where artists and audiences can actually gather outside increasingly expensive and restrictive creative spaces.

“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.”

And programming across the opening season pulls from all corners of Sydney’s nightlife ecosystem.

Wednesdays will operate as free-entry nights featuring live residency bands, comedians and a speakeasy bar.

Thursday through Saturday introduces rotating events and takeovers from crews including Heaps Gay, Fredas, Music NSW, Kerfew and emo party-starters AM//PM, alongside a stacked lineup of artists, DJs and performers including Vv Pete, BODY TYPE, Holiday Sidewinder, RONA., Noah Hill, Total Tommy, Setwun, Ennaria and more.

Sundays close out with Sunday Mess – described as an “unholy brunch party” presented with Performance Space and Stereogamous.

Elsewhere, local visual artists have been invited to transform the church interior, with works from Deborah Kelly, Nikita Majajas, Sarah Jessica Carpark, Kee Kee James and others – all to be sold at the end of the residency with proceeds supporting LGBTQIA+ youth organisation Twenty10.

There’s even an artist grants program built into the bar: $1 from every “Unholy Water” gin sold gets reinvested into funding new creative work and performances.

In other words: less bottle service, more weird little art project.

UNHOLY PLAYHOUSE opens Wednesday 8 July. Suss the full programme and grab tickets here.

Further Reading

The Biggest Threat To Australian Live Music Isn’t Red Tape Anymore – As APRA Closes The Live Music Office After 13 Years

Diamond Construct Announce Their First Sydney Headline Show In Almost 2 Years

Sydney’s Agincourt Hotel Sold, All Live Music Cancelled

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