What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 12pm - 6pm Thursday 12pm - 6pm Friday 12pm - 6pm Saturday 12pm - 6pm

The Substation

Home
Australia
Melbourne, VIC
The Substation

Directions Website

1 Market Street, Newport www.thesubstation.org.au

19/10/2026

After its standout 2-week season, we are pleased to congratulate and collaborators for being awarded Best In Experimental and the Sound & Technical Excellence Award by Melbourne Fringe Festival for their large-scale installation The Enormous Radio. A hive of hacked radios took over our Main Space to transmit haunting calls of Australian animals amid the current climate emergency. Special thanks and congratulations to our presenting partners .made , as well as Front of House Productions. Finally, thank you to our audiences for daring to listen closely to the machine-medium to reconnect with the wild.

16/10/2026

TICKETS SELLING FAST/
THE NECKS/

21–22 February 2027, 7pm
The Substation Main Space

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION & ROOM40

The Necks are a virtually unclassifiable piano trio from Sydney, Australia. Neither jazz nor rock, this deceptive unit has toed a single line of conduct throughout its career. Pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck usually commence their shows and recording sessions by playing a single, basic, melodic, and rhythmic vamp or figure that, over an extended period of time, gradually transforms its shape without ever completely discarding it.

Sunday tickets disappearing, Monday tickets selling fast. Book at our link in bio now.
necks

Credit
The Necks | In Session at Sydney Opera House

15/10/2026

Thank you for joining us for the preview night of Prime Time as we came together for one big celebration of ageing. The entire season is now sold out! Born in a Taxi and The Substation look forward to welcoming you this week.

--
PRIME TIME/
BORN IN A TAXI/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, BORN IN A TAXI & MELBOURNE FRINGE

14 – 17 October
Season sold out

A celebration of life in all its stages, Prime Time by Born in a Taxi interrogates the relationship between age, power, visibility, and value. This new intergenerational work challenges our assumptions and expectations about age and ageing. Featuring a cast of 14, aged between 5 and 93, Prime Time forges new dialogues across generations through shared stories, perspectives, dance and sound.

Accessibility: Open Captions | Wheelchair accessible | Gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms available | Saturday matinee is Relaxed

Credit

15/10/2026

Thank you for joining us for the second public program of Registrations: Hidden Door Journal, where the live sounds from Karina Utomo and Sam Dunscombe's performances became transcripts, proofs, annotations and copies in real-time for Hidden Door Journal Issue 3. You can view the residual exhibition in our galleries for free, Wed–Sat, 12pm–5pm until 17th October.

--
REGISTRATIONS: HIDDEN DOOR JOURNAL/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION & MELBOURNE FRINGE

Registrations unfolds across two Saturdays and an exhibition at The Substation as both public program and publishing experiment: Issue 3 of Hidden Door Journal, produced by Ranch Pressing in real time and under pressure. Part exhibition, part séance, part print room, the project treats performance as inscription.

View the residual exhibition of Hidden Door Journal's Issue 3 in our galleries for free, Wed–Sat, 12pm–5pm until 17th October.

Hidden Door Records
Ranch Pressing

Credit
Sarah Walker Sarah Walker

12/10/2026

Is life over at 50? "No!" Opening this Wednesday, some of the youngest to oldest cast members of Prime Time shared more about the joys and misconceptions of ageing. Tickets are about to disappear with opening night sold out, book now at our link in bio! Additional tickets available via Melbourne Fringe's website.

--
PRIME TIME/
BORN IN A TAXI/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, BORN IN A TAXI & MELBOURNE FRINGE

14 October – 17 October
• Wednesday, 6pm (Preview) - SOLD OUT
• Thursday, 6:30pm (Opening Night) - SOLD OUT
• Friday, 6:30pm - Low Availability
• Saturday, 2pm (Relaxed) - Low Availability

A celebration of life in all its stages, Prime Time by Born in a Taxi interrogates the relationship between age, power, visibility, and value. This new intergenerational work challenges our assumptions and expectations about age and ageing. Featuring a cast of 14, aged between 5 and 93, Prime Time forges new dialogues across generations through shared stories, perspectives, dance and sound.

Opening night sold out! Rest of season low availability, book at our link in bio, or visit Melbourne Fringe's website for additional tickets.

Accessibility: Open Captions | Wheelchair accessible | Gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms available. Saturday matinee is Relaxed.

10/10/2026

The diverse cast of Prime Time by Born in a Taxi have been hard at work (and play) in the lead up to next week's opening. Challenging the misconceptions of ageing, tickets for this show are selling extremely fast amidst opening night selling out—grab tickets at our link in bio now.

--
PRIME TIME/
BORN IN A TAXI/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, BORN IN A TAXI & MELBOURNE FRINGE

14 October – 17 October
• Wednesday, 6pm (Preview) - Low Availability
• Thursday, 6:30pm (Opening Night) - SOLD OUT
• Friday, 6:30pm - Low Availability
• Saturday, 2pm (Relaxed) - Low Availability

A celebration of life in all its stages, Prime Time by Born in a Taxi interrogates the relationship between age, power, visibility, and value. This new intergenerational work challenges our assumptions and expectations about age and ageing. Featuring a cast of 14, aged between 5 and 93, Prime Time forges new dialogues across generations through shared stories, perspectives, dance and sound.

Opening night sold out! Rest of season low availability, book at our link in bio.

Accessibility: Open Captions | Wheelchair accessible | Gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms available. Saturday matinee is Relaxed.

09/10/2026

"On this project, I'm very attracted to exploring animal field recordings," Co-Creator Roslyn Oades says about The Enormous Radio. The documentary theatremaker ventured away from using typical human voice materials to give animals speech in the current climate emergency. This Judges' Pick is closing tonight, with final tickets at our link in bio!

--
THE ENORMOUS RADIO/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, CHAMBER MADE & MELBOURNE FRINGE

30 September – 10 October
12 – 9pm
Hourly sessions, final session at 8pm

Chamber Made's The Enormous Radio is a new large-scale immersive audio experience by artists Roslyn Oades and Bob Scott with collaborators. A ring of old radios replete with glowing dials, crackling speakers and twitchy antennas fill The Substation Main Space. This strange hive has been hacked, revived and repurposed to operate as an interconnected machine-medium capable of seeking, receiving, translating and transmitting uncanny messages from the animal world.

Final day to grab tickets for this Judges' Pick, visit our link in bio now.
made

Credit
Ft. Roslyn Oades, The Enormous Radio, courtesy of Chamber Made

09/10/2026

"What are the aesthetic markers of a haunting?" Creative Technologist Kevan Atkins considered during the development of The Enormous Radio. The Judges' Pick installation is closing Saturday night. Grab final tickets at our link in bio now.

--
THE ENORMOUS RADIO/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, CHAMBER MADE & MELBOURNE FRINGE

30 September – 10 October
12 – 9pm
Hourly sessions, final session at 8pm

Chamber Made's The Enormous Radio is a new large-scale immersive audio experience by artists Roslyn Oades and Bob Scott with collaborators. A ring of old radios replete with glowing dials, crackling speakers and twitchy antennas fill The Substation Main Space. This strange hive has been hacked, revived and repurposed to operate as an interconnected machine-medium capable of seeking, receiving, translating and transmitting uncanny messages from the animal world.

Final weekend to grab tickets for this Judges' Pick, visit our link in bio now.
made

Credit
Ft. Kevan Atkins , The Enormous Radio, courtesy of Chamber Made

09/10/2026

A celebration of ageing, Prime Time by Born in a Taxi is opening next week. Read more of what Co-Artistic Director Penny Baron shared with and at our link in bio. Opening night is sold out with low availability for the rest of the season, grab final tickets quick at our link in bio!

--
PRIME TIME/
BORN IN A TAXI/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION, BORN IN A TAXI & MELBOURNE FRINGE

14 October – 17 October
• Wednesday, 6pm (Preview) - Low Availability
• Thursday, 6:30pm (Opening Night) - SOLD OUT
• Friday, 6:30pm - Low Availability
• Saturday, 2pm (Relaxed) - Low Availability

A celebration of life in all its stages, Prime Time by Born in a Taxi interrogates the relationship between age, power, visibility, and value. This new intergenerational work challenges our assumptions and expectations about age and ageing. Featuring a cast of 14, aged between 5 and 93, Prime Time forges new dialogues across generations through shared stories, perspectives, dance and sound.

Opening night sold out! Rest of season running low, book at our link in bio.

Accessibility: Open Captions | Wheelchair accessible | Gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms available. Saturday matinee is Relaxed.

Credit
Paul Dunn

Address

1 Market Street
Melbourne, VIC
3015

Opening Hours

Wednesday	12pm - 6pm
Thursday	12pm - 6pm
Friday	12pm - 6pm
Saturday	12pm - 6pm

Website

http://www.thesubstation.org.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Substation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.