New prison themed cocktail bar in Melbourne slammed as ‘grotesque’
A new themed cocktail bar is coming to Melbourne but a group of activists is calling on the public to boycott it.
A new themed cocktail bar is coming to Melbourne but prison reform activists are calling on the public to boycott it.
Alcotraz – the name seemingly inspired by former US maximum-security prison Alcatraz – opens near Queen Victoria Market in June and will see guests wear orange jump suits and sit in a cell. Staff act as inmates and “crooked” guards.
Bizarrely, the bar does not sell alcohol and guests are instead required to “smuggle” in their own liquor for mixologists to make into cocktails. There is also no food served.
Promotional material encourages guests to “experience life behind bars”.
“Get ready to be processed by the corrupt guards who will aid you in keeping your contraband liquor hidden from the prying eyes of the Warden,” a description reads.
“As you immerse yourself in the cold walls of your metallic cell with your fellow inmates, the prison canteen convicts will serve up a range of cocktails, specially tailored to your choice of smuggled liquor.”
Tickets for the experience, which lasts one hour and 45 minutes, go on sale Wednesday evening, starting at $63.
But the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls say the experience is “disturbingly” insensitive and are calling on the public to boycott it.
“The entire concept of Alcotraz isn’t just poor taste; it shows a fundamental disregard for the lived experiences of people who have been and continue to be harmed by the prison system,” said Debbie Kilroy, a human rights lawyer and leading advocate for criminalised women and children.
“Prison is not a game — it is harsh, it is brutal and all too often a life-ending reality.
“Privileged white people cosplaying as prisoners for fun while real people suffer is just grotesque.”
She said incarceration should not be turned into a form of entertainment.
Ms Kilroy, who is also CEO of the charity Sisters Inside in Queensland, founded the National Network in 2020 to represent those who are currently or formerly incarcerated.
A member of the network, Tabitha Lean, added the themed bar was “a slap in the face to those who have experienced real trauma and brutalisation”.
“Prisons are sites of immense pain and suffering, especially for Aboriginal people who face higher rates of incarceration and deaths in custody,” she said.
Alcotraz in Melbourne (there are already six locations in the UK) is a partnership between Fever and Inventive Productions.
In a joint statement to news.com.au, the businesses said the immersive experience draws on theatre, Hollywood movies and TV “that have brought to life fictional prison stories”.
“With subtle references to cult American entertainment such as Prison Break, Orange is the New Black and Shawshank Redemption, Alcotraz’s theatrical experience is focused on giving guests the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in a fictitious Hollywood like narrative, which is in no way based on the real-life difficulties and harsh realities of prison systems today,” a spokesperson said.
“Inventive Productions continues to be sensitive towards the real-world difficulties that could be associated with such stories and evaluate how best to support those around us.
“They provide safe, supportive, and creative workplaces to actors across the UK and Australia who are integral to bringing to life the creative storylines.”