TAP Gallery

Lights! Camera! Cat pee!
A great multi-​purpose art, theatre and forum space, an iconic remnant of times gone by in bohemian Darlinghurst. Artist run, the Tap Gallery promises creative and unheard talent in abundance. Artists from all walks and experience levels grace one of the multiple stages.
The Tap is a great resource for up-​and-​comers in the scene, offering affordable booking rates and an indiscriminate approach to art and theatre.
The proprietor, Lesley, will greet you with a smile and offer a glass of wine. She’s always worth a chat, if you’ve got the time between modern art exhibit and progressive independent play.
The venue is very much lived in and loved, by human and cat. Depending on your disposition, you’ll either feel right at home or incredibly uncomfortable.
Be warned, theatre snobs: this is a nest of creativity and bohemian self-​expression, you will not be greeted by an uptight usher with a penchant for condescension. If that’s what you’re hankering for, go elsewhere.
The bar boasts a selection of beer and wine and a range of nibbles. You can take drinks, snacks and even a slice of cake into the play with you (eat your heart out, Sydney Theatre Company!).
The in-​built bookshop/​café are what dreams are made of. Second hand books a plenty, and your choice of plush lounges to relax into and wile away the hours.
A brilliant venue and a treasured resource in the arts community, if a little unkept.

The Tap Gallery is a mildly cat-​pee scented Mistress of the Dark. SUCH a great venue with it’s two levels, many rooms and liquor license, Tap is a performance artist’s dream. (Well, maybe after Broadway, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Stadium…)
The unpretentious façade hides a decent sized venue, complete with café and bookstore, and being artist-​run they get a nice eclectic mix of exhibits– it’s not just one person’s taste determining who gets to show there. All around a great concept and worthy of support. I just wish wish wish the house cat was kitty-​litter trained because the place has an underlying aroma that seeps into your consciousness after a couple of hours here. They could also do with a fan as the low ceilings stop the air from circulating (not helpful with aforementioned odour issue), but overall this is a great place to enjoy the eclectic furniture and soak up some Arts darling.

Very quaint and well loved experimental performance space. I did a workshop on Shakespears Clowns here and got to use the stage space to perform on. There is also an art gallery downstairs and a little café/​bar upstairs used as a foyer before plays and theatre shows. It’s a very intimate space where a lot of mixing and mingling is encouraged, it is run by people who live on the premises and it has a very vibrant and inviting creative vibe. I really enjoy coming here and feel connected with the art world just by being withing these walls. There is a great little library upstairs in the foyer with books people donate to the space and some of them are really interesting all to do with arts and related subjects. Theatre prices here aren’t overly expensive and they also have Consumer Conscious Tuesday’s $ 12 tickets for most season runs.

This is the kind of space that you’d never really knew existed unless you were coming for something specific and Google-​mapped the hell out of it. I came for the play 33 (an intelligent and hilarious observation of young Sydney professionals, but that’s another matter entirely) — and was surprised to find a charming theatre and gallery shacked up together.
Downstairs, the gallery exhibits a rotating line-​up of artists and photographers, and is well worth checking out. Upstairs, you’ll find a tiny kiosk manned by a lady who sure knows how to fill a glass of red! The tiny theatre is perfect for small-​scale plays. I can imagine it might be an excruciating experience if the production was a dud, but it really is a privilege to watch skilled acting in such an intimate venue.
Plenty of other cool things go on here, like life drawing classes every Monday night and regular poet and songwriter evenings. Click on the Tap website to browse upcoming exhibitions and plays — our local creatives could do with our support.

A friend of mine was putting on a play. It was to be performed at the Tap Gallery on Palmer Street, a small theatre located above an art gallery.
We arrived, had a bit of trouble finding a park (as you do in that area) and then rushed upstairs, slightly late, though the play hadn’t started yet so all was good. Tickets purchased we walked into the theatre space.
It’s an unusual space, but it’s intimate, the seats are simply large steps that take up one side of the room and seat about 50 people. The stage is a long stage as it takes up the remainder of the room, depending on what sets are constructed for the play.
The play was thoroughly enjoyable with an adequate amount of puns thrown in for good measure. The issue with the Tap Gallery Theatre is that if anything happens in the lobby while the play is on, and also, technically speaking, even when the play isn’t on, but lets not play that philosophical mind game, then you can hear it in the theatre and it can be disrupting. For example a conversation about a drink. We can hear you.
After the play we all moved downstairs to continue quenching our thirst with fizzy beverages and to admire some art.
As mentioned earlier, the downstairs section of the building is an art gallery and as luck would have it there was an opening that night so the place was full of people both young and old.
Some of the art was fantastic, other art pieces were confusing and there was even a large man with a Casio S1 playing synthesised music to entertain the masses.
It was a fun night out and one full of culture, art and entertainment. It has its drawbacks, but there are few places where you can meld theatre, fine art and Casio S1’s so seamlessly as the Tap Gallery.