Speaking the unspeakable

Art inspired by personal trauma is not mere catharsis - it can be creative, brave and even playful.
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Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre’s Betroffenheit. Image by Wendy D.

The cliché of the suffering artist is well established, but a personal experience of trauma is not a prerequisite for the creation of great art. Nonetheless, artists continue to mine their own sometimes intensely painful experiences – and the tragedies of others – in order to create work for the stage.

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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