How one venue’s closure can damage the arts ecology of a city

The impending closure of the Bakehouse Theatre in May 2022 is potentially devastating for Adelaide’s independent arts sector.

After 23 years as a home for new Australian theatre, Adelaide’s Bakehouse Theatre will be forced to shut its doors in May 2022.

The news was officially confirmed by the theatre’s management on Saturday 24 July.

‘The building has recently been sold and at the time of the sale we were confident that the new landlords would renew our lease in the same way that the previous landlords had done,’ said Artistic Director Pamela Munt in a statement to the media.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts