The Red Rattler Theatre

The Red Rattler Theatre is a community-based venue and artists’ studios. The Theatre operates on a not-for-profit basis, and is an artist-run initiative (ARI).

The Red Rattler Theatre is a creative playground for performers, musicians, artists, designers, multi-media makers, experimentalists, film-makers, theorists, activists, collective organisers, and local punters. It is fitted with a full PA, stage, LED lighting rig, projector and screen, licensed bar, three non-residential artist studios, and a rooftop garden.

The Red Rattler Theatre is the realisation of the collective dream of five local artists, who wanted to create a legal warehouse-style venue to showcase alternative Sydney arts, performance and grassroots activism. The five “Rats” had been hosting events for years at many of the illegal inner-city and inner-west warehouse spaces that have been shut down over the years (Lan Franchis, Space 3, love hotel, and many temporary squatted zones), and dreamed of creating an accessible venue that held all relevant licences to stay open, and would not be at the mercy of high rents and developers.


The five Rats came up with a structure to achieve this:

• They hocked themselves into major debt to buy the old factory that is now The Red Rattler Theatre. In order to provide a secure space in the early stages of establishing the venue, the mortgage on the building has been the private debt of each Rat.

• The Building and the Theatre are run as separate entities. The five Rats are present Directors of the Theatre, which involves responsibility for the strategic direction of the Theatre, and managing all aspects of the running of the business. These are voluntary positions. The current Directors also maintain fulltime paid work to pay for the mortgage on the Building. The Theatre is completely volunteer-run, and could not exist without the hard work and goodwill of a small army of volunteers who staff, manage and run the venue. The success and longevity of the Theatre depends on the involvement and support of volunteers.

• The Theatre is run on a not-for-profit basis. In 2011 the Theatre has been looking at formalising its not-for-profit status. A tiered fee structure is charged to community users, and guests are asked to contribute a 50c donation to an eco-plan to run the space largely on renewable water and energy sources. Weekly running costs are in the vicinity of $5,000 (maintenance, insurances, etc). The Theatre has no paid employees. Currently any surplus goes towards paying the set-up debt (see below).

• The Theatre borrowed almost $200,000 to convert the factory (largely a DIY project with a huge amount of community help). The largest expense was fire compliance. The Red Rattler Theatre opened on 1 May 2009. The Theatre is working on a five-year repayment plan, but as at November 2011 the Theatre had repaid over $150,000 of this debt, which is a huge achievement. The Theatre has recently developed a community grants scheme, the first deadline closed in early November 2011. Grant recipients will be announced in December.


Located in an industrial area (originally called Tramvale Estate in the early 1900s) and in close proximity to Sydenham station, the name of the theatre is inspired by the old Red Rattler trains. Carriages were open plan with long bench seats, and the trains were noisy, clickerty clack on the tracks. The rattle refers to us trying to shake things up in terms of accessible venues and creative spaces in Sydney, and the colour red has long associations with left politics, revolution and anarchism.