On the eve of the sold out Goodbye 199 show, Giant Dwarf Theatre is pleased to announce that just 10 days after a rent hike forced it out of 199 Cleveland Street (its home since 2014) – the theatre will now re-open on Friday 20 March just up the road at 280 Cleveland Street.
Giant Dwarf Theatre has secured a short term lease to the premises vacated in late 2019, after a decade in residence, by Sydney’s only artist-run live music venue Venue 505 (which continues to operate in Newtown as part of the Old 505 Theatre).
“This lease is a lifeline for Giant Dwarf Theatre,” said co-founders Nikita Agzarian and Julian Morrow. “We thought we’d have to close forever, but now we’ve got a few months to try and keep GD alive as a supportive home for comedy, music, storytelling, theatre, podcasting – and all sorts of new and exciting content in Sydney.”
Agzarian and Morrow are hopeful that the wave of affection and support which came after news of the rent hike at 199 Cleveland Street, and a new landlord more supportive of the arts, will make it possible for 280 Cleveland Street to become Giant Dwarf Theatre’s permanent home.
“The plan is to stay here long term and to be the live venue which is Sydney’s best incubator of emerging talent, not Coronavirus” Agzarian and Morrow said.
The new Giant Dwarf Theatre will open its doors at 6pm on Friday 20th March, ahead of FREE public grand slam heck of an opening show starting at 7:30pm which will feature an array of impressive Sydney artists to be announced soon.
Giant Dwarf plans to continue hosting jazz and other music events at the venue, continuing the tradition nurtured by Venue 505 operators Kerri Glasscock and Cameron Undy over the last decade.
Shows at Giant Dwarf will continue to be listed at giantdwarf.com.au, and the new line-up includes crowd favourites such as Story Club, Queerstories, Dragon Friends, and Generation Women. Some of the first new shows you’ll be able to catch are gigs such as the Sydney exclusive of Rob Carlton’s new one-man show; a brand new storytelling event called Flame Nights, Drag King shows, stand up gigs, and so much more.
The GD team is working on hard programming the new venue, and is accepting shows from 21 March onwards.
Venue inquiries should be directed to bookings@giantdwarf.com.au.
STOP PRESS:Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 global pandemic, the launch of the new Giant Dwarf Theatre and its opening shows have been postponed. Any tickets already sold for affected events will be valid for the rescheduled shows. They will of course give a full refund on request to anyone who bought a ticket before this announcement.
