Staying awake: the art of the epic

Despite claims social media has destroyed our attention spans, audiences still flock to endurance-length theatrical epics: but why?
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Andrew Rothney in The James Plays James II. Credit: Manuel Harlan, Adelaide Festival of Arts.

From Peter Brook’s legendary nine-hour epic The Mahabharata in 1988, to more recent works such as Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s Roman Tragedies and Nature Theatre of Oklahoma’s Life and Times Episodes 1–4, it seems Australian festival audiences can’t get enough of epic-length and immersive theatre productions.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts