Twenty years ago, the space held a business that sold risqué goods of an adult nature. Twenty years before that, it hosted a Balkans-themed club where young men complained that cans of VB cost $2.50. Now the tiny bolthole under ground level hosts the busiest arts centre in Wollongong.
Sidedoor Theatre, opposite Spotlight in Atchison St, has been conducting drag events, comedy nights, plays, musicals and more for several years, and it's little wonder that Rising Arts – the group that runs it – has a motto of ''where different lives''.
Rising Arts founding members Jarrod Riesinger and Bradley Ward began the company in Camden in 2017 with a few improv shows, noticing that Wollongong creatives were often outnumbering the locals. This prompted them to move to the coast to expand operations with new organisers such as Adam Armitt and a handy clutch of volunteers.
"We made the genius decision to open a space in Bellambi called Theatre 16 just as the pandemic kicked off called Theatre 16," Riesinger said.
'"We were there for about 18 months, doing small shows when able with all the Covid guidelines. But as our lease was coming to an end, our friends at the former Wet Shoe Club mentioned they were leaving this great space in the middle of town so we jumped on it and have been running it as a multi-purpose arts space since."
Noticing the strengths of Illawarra theatre groups and their specialities, Rising Arts realised one niche going unfulfilled. '"The lack of spaces that give you the freedom to do anything," as Riesinger explains.
"We've also run live music, improv comedy, circus, interactive art exhibitions, LARPing events, film screenings, poetry slams, readings of fan-fiction, live-streamed a 24-hour performance marathon, filmed an entire game show and early next month we'll be producing a monthly 'late night' talk show," he said. "Many of the shows that come to us a highly ambitious given we're in a small basement theatre but we do our best to do it all. Is it a case of anything goes."
As well as helping run the Wollongong Comedy Festival wrapping up in July, upcoming Rising Arts events include the Australian premiere of We Are The Tigers, a cheerleader-themed murder musical with four performances across July 17-19.
Good Works, a play following two women and their sons as they struggle to live within the confines of 20th-century Catholic morality, brings grit to the first weekend of August. It features Thomas Roberts, recently seen writhing around on Phoenix Theatre floorboards in an exceptionally visceral portrayal of exiled son Edgar in The House of Gloucester.
Good Works director Sharlette Bourke said the piece, set between 1928 and 1981, explored the intricacies of connections between six characters.
''This story is so beautiful – we see the characters bond over the harsh realities of living in Australia at the time,'' she said.
