Sydney based caterer Avocado Group has teamed with The Cell Block Theatre at the National Art School in Sydney,  a visually remarkable building and a significant feature of Australia’s colonial and cultural heritage.

As the women’s wing of the Old Darlinghurst Gaol from 1841 to 1920 the Cell Block Theatre held some of Sydney’s most notorious criminals including the ‘Queen of the Underworld’ Kate Leigh.

The Cell Block Theatre at Sydney’s National Art School

Today, the building can be used for sit down dinners up to 120 guests and cocktail events up to 290 guests. The visual form the building takes on today is thanks to Katharine Hepburn and Robert Helpman who started a fund to turn the derelict prison block into a dramatic theatrical venue. The internal walls and floors were removed to reveal 10 metre high sandstone walls leaving behind open, atmospheric cathedral-like space.

The historic venue space can be used for seated dinners up to 120 and cocktail events up to 290.

The impression of the old cells still lingers with traces of the curved stone staircases climbing three storeys high, narrow barred windows, and rough sandstone edges that mark the cells and the solid iron doorway. The stone walls and wooden floors keep the simplicity of the space focused on the history that has been; making Cell Block Theatre a very unique yet flexible venue for many types of events and activities. The surrounding courtyards offset the history of the Cell Block Theatre and make a great outdoor entertainment space.

For more information on transforming this unique venue into something spectacular, click here.