One of the big parts of getting your own show up is finding a venue. Melbourne is a great city for creating work in and there are several options you might take in getting a venue.

Traditional performance spaces

We’ve left out the bigger theatre venues and focused on venues which generally seat less than 100 people:
• Abbotsford Convent
• Arts House
• Carlton Courthouse
• Chapel off Chapel
• Cromwell Theatre
• The Dog Theatre at Dancing Dog’s Café
• Federation Square
• fortyfivedownstairs
• La Mama
• Northcote Town Hall
• Melbourne Town Hall
• Trades Hall
• Triple R Performance Space
• The Store Room

You might also want to check out the City of Melbourne’s Creative Spaces website.

Bars and pubs

You might decide to perform at the back of a bar or pub or in their function room – these spaces can often be interesting and dynamic, and some bars/pubs have dedicated spaces with more technical equipment.

Some bars and pubs will charge you a fee per night or for the season, or per ticket sold, and some will give you the space for free. There are no standard fees, it is up to each venue.

One important thing to remember is that most pub/bar-owners are not from a performing arts background. This means they may not be as concerned about you as an artist because their agenda may be more profit-driven and they will be thinking about their business, rather than your show. They may have space but how supportive will they be with your show? And how supportive do you need them to be?

Think about these things:
• What nights can they give you for your season? A lot of pubs/bars have busy nights on Friday and Saturday, which are busy nights for theatre too. If they can’t give you these nights, does your season require these nights? If they can give you Friday and Saturday, think about whether the sound will travel through from their bar/pub to your performance space.
• Does the venue have lighting and sound equipment?
• If not, do they have two-phase or three-phase power? The more power, the greater your capacity for bringing in
• Does the venue have a lighting rig?
• Where are the speakers?
• Does the venue provide seating? Is it tiered? If not, is the stage tiered
• Does the venue provide storage space? How much storage space do you need?
• How will you bump-in and bump-out of the venue? Is there parking for your car/truck?
• Does the venue allow you to come in and rehearse in the space?
• Is there a room that could be a ‘green room’ for the actors? A dressing room?
• And, very importantly, can you imagine working with the venue owner? Do they have a good vibe?

Some venues with a more established performance set-up that you might want to check out include:
• Dantes
• The Toff in Town

Art galleries

Melbourne is full of art gallery spaces and in lots of central locations. These can be interesting spaces to perform in but will usually require you to bring in all lighting, sound equipment and seating.

Think about some of the above points too when approaching an art gallery space but also keep in mind the following:
• Some galleries are managed by committees of people, so you may be dealing with more than one ‘venue owner’.
• Galleries usually program in certain chunks of time so you may not be able to get a short season or a long season. A fortnight is probably what you’re looking at, which will have to include bump-in and bump-out, and restoring the gallery to how it was for their next show.
• Galleries may be programming months ahead so you may need to apply months in advance.
• Galleries may be in out of the way locations, down small streets and alleyways so you may have to do some communication about where the venue is to your audience, and have adequate signage during the season.

Other spaces

You might end up doing a performance in your own house or a basement or maybe a church or maybe in a warehouse or maybe in a factory or even on the street. Think about some of the points from above. But you might also have to consider local laws and regulation around noise, environmental impact and waste, public liability, heating (if you’re in a venue with no heating and you’re performing when it’s hot or cold), weather (if you’re performing outdoors).