Another Adelaide entertainment venue is closing for good, with the city's Bakehouse Theatre shutting its doors this Saturday night, May 7, after 24 years of operation.
"I think the emotions are probably going to start pouring out and then, after that, I guess we'll be wandering around, trying to clear up everything in this place," said creative producer Peter Green.
The Angas Street theatre had no option but to close when the nearby Life Christian Centre, which owns the property, refused to extend its lease.
Life Christian Centre did not respond to the ABC's request for comment.
Artistic director Pamela Munt fell in love with the theatre when she and her daughter were given a tour by Green.
"He opened the door and we just sort of looked at each other and said, 'Yeah this is the one'," she said.
"And it's been the one for 24 years."
With its distinctive red doors, the 86-seat theatre has proven a mecca for actors trying to make it professionally.
Having the state's hottest young actors on display attracted plenty of talent scouts over the years.
"They all came to see a lot of the shows that we had here and a lot of the actors who started out here worked in state theatre and other places," Green said.
"[It was] such a good grounding."
The city venue has a long, rich history that began, at least officially, when the site was bought in 1890 to be used as a bakery.
It went on to be used for Farmers Radio in the 1950s and then became the Communist Party headquarters in 1976.
When Green arrived on the scene in the 1990s, the Communist Party still owned it and helped him survive financially.
"They were not very capitalistic when they came to their rent, it was quite reasonable," he said.
Bakehouse has since been home to around 250 productions attended by thousands of theatre-lovers, with Fringe shows featuring the likes of Ben Elton.
However, on Saturday night, the final curtain will come down, and with it will go a critical part of Adelaide's theatre fabric.
The city now has a dearth of smaller venues, with the popular La Boheme stage closing its doors three years ago.
Just down the road, another long-running venue has also been listed for sale.
Diverse-City — formerly known as the Promethean Theatre — has been on the market for several months.
Leaseholders Sue and Sarah Gallpen say that, while they have a 10-year lease, that was not an iron-clad guarantee.
"No business environment is ever good when it's in flux and, so, it's more difficult to book an artist when the building is up for sale," Sue Gallpen said.
But Sue Gallpen said she was confident about the future of Diverse-City, as well as the city's arts and entertainment scene.
"Obviously, for Bakehouse, it's terrible and I would not like to be in the same position but, sometimes, you just have to think in different ways when you're still in the game," she said.
Munt says the new state government must step in to back an industry that was smashed by COVID-19.
"What it really needs is long-term, secure funding, not just applying for a grant every time you do a show," she said.
"It's impossible really."
While unsure if he will be a part of the city theatre scene in the future, Green said he was optimistic about new, emerging venues.
"Somebody will find something and they'll go, 'Let's do it'," he said, "and it'll create it again and those people will start. It's like a circle, the arts always seems to go in constant circles."
Bakehouse Theatre is going out with a bang, with every night of its final production of A Streetcar Named Desire sold out.
