News

Still plenty to do for queer arts festivals

Despite the increased presence of queer culture in mainstream arts and entertainment there’s still a place for festivals such as Melt and Midsumma.

14 Jan 2015

Richard Watts

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Writing and Publishing

Image: Sunny Drake will perform Transgender Seeking… at both MELT and Midsumma in 2015. Photo by Tania Anderson.

Once upon a time, queer characters were almost never seen in popular entertainment, and when they were, they were invariably depicted as either monstrous creatures (Suddenly, Last Summer) or sad and pitiful (The Children’s Hour). Either way, they had to die in the final act so that the heterosexual characters could live happily ever after.

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Richard Watts

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