{"id":58939,"date":"2026-07-27T01:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/58939\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T01:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:27:14","slug":"protesters-turn-out-after-sydneys-divine-playhouse-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/58939\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters Turn Out After Sydney’s Divine Playhouse Closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

An estimated crowd of over 2,000 people turned out at Sydney\u2019s Hyde Park on Saturday to protest the shock closure of new live venue, Divine Playhouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just eight days after its opening, the Kent Street venue \u2013 a church until it was deconsecrated in the 1930s \u2013 was shut down last week. According to a statement, the eviction was based on the legal grounds of \u201coffensive trade\u201d \u2013 a term originating from an 1842 New South Wales law introduced to regulate foul smells and industrial waste.<\/p>\n

It came just days after Divine Playhouse was forced to temporarily close its doors, after Christian groups protested the venue\u2019s programming, claiming it mocked religious beliefs. As\u00a0Rolling Stone AU\/NZ\u00a0previously reported<\/a>, the landlord had issued Heaps Gay Events with a breach notice directing it to \u201ccease engaging in offensive trade\u201d.<\/p>\n

The crowd protested through songs, led by Aunty Jonny and Victoria Falconer-Pritchard, including John Farnham\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re the Voice,\u201d and Madonna\u2019s \u201cLike a Prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are offensive trade!\u201d \u201cQueer joy is not offensive,\u201d\u00a0Falconer-Pritchard told the crowd.\u00a0\u201cThe performing arts and nightlife of this city make it one of the best cities in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those in attendance also heard speeches from Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Miller, NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, MEAA delegate Charley Allanah, drag artist Etcetera Etcetera and broadcaster Benjamin Law, with statements of support from NSW Arts Minister John Graham and Independent MP Alex Greenwich.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is what makes us stronger as humans. This theatre was never designed to offend or exclude \u2013 quite the opposite: it was created as a place to connect, to express, and to spark joy,\u201d Reverend Jon Owen, Pastor of Wayside Chapel, said in his speech.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo those who can\u2019t see the beauty and magnificence of what I see before me: you are invited to dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the closure and protest, almost 20,000 people have signed a petition<\/a> supporting Divine Playhouse, while almost $50,000 has been raised in legal costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week we packed up 420 Kent Street. After two months of blood, sweat and tears, the doors are closed. But then today happened \u2013 a park filled with love,\u201d founder Kat Dopper said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is where community wins. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us these past couple of weeks. It was never just about the building \u2013 it\u2019s about the art and the people. So Divine Playhouse will live on. We\u2019re only just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An estimated crowd of over 2,000 people turned out at Sydney\u2019s Hyde Park on Saturday to protest the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[35111,36278,247],"class_list":["post-58939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-divine-playhouse","tag-kat-dopper","tag-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}