Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts

Richard Watts's Latest Articles

L-R: Griffin Theatre Company Artistic Director Declan Greene (photo: Brett Boardman) and Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Black (photo: Daniel Boud). Two fair-skinned men sit for the camera. Greene is sitting on a four-legged stool and faces the camera directly; his hands are clasped in his lap. Flack leans back on his chair and is photographed in profile, though his head is turned towards the camera.

Griffin and Belvoir announce new partnership and residency for 2026

Griffin will undertake a year-long residency and present its 2026 season at Belvoir while its Kings Cross home undergoes major…

Richard Watts

Sep 13, 2025
Publicity image for Griffin's 2026 production 'Afterglow', to be staged at Belvoir's downstairs theatre. Two fair-skinned young women with long hair, one wearing vertical striped clothes and the other wearing horizontal stripes, hold each other and laugh. The image is slightly fractured as if double-exposed, and shot in tones of yellow and orange.
News

2026 season announcements: our rolling guide to the performing arts

Orchestras, recital centres, theatre companies and more: we're compiling a list of 2026 season announcements, to be updated regularly, for…

Richard Watts

Sep 12, 2025
Image description: A photo of Fiona Winning, smiling at the camera. She has short red hair, glasses and is wearing a colourful green, pink and yellow top.
Features

Vale Fiona Winning: the game-changing arts producer is sorely missed

The culture-shaping arts leader and producer was farewelled by family and friends last Friday, with mourners encouraged to think, ‘What…

Richard Watts

Sep 9, 2025
A close-up photograph of a person jumping from bollard to bollard on a stretch of road; the photo shows only their legs and feet. The person is wearing black pants, white socks and black and red sneakers. The photo illustrates Artshub's weekly On the Move column, which summarises the week's arts sector appointments across Australia.
Features

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Sep 8, 2025
Western Australian composer and producer Elise Reitze-Swensen is a member of the 2025 Minderoo Foundation cohort. The photograph shows Elise Reitze-Swensen, a fair-skinned woman with long blonde hair, smiling at the camera. She wears a long-sleeved white t-shirt decorated with a bold, black-outlined, cartoon-like figure.
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Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund seeks mid-career WA creatives with bold ideas

The Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund offers grants of $35,000 and Forrest Hall residencies to the value of $20,000 to mid-career…

Richard Watts

Sep 4, 2025
Franco Zeffirelli’s 'Aida' at Arena di Verona. The photograph hints at the scale of the arena production's opulent set, and depicts cast and chorus members arrayed beneath huge temple-like Egyptian statues and a pyramid.
News

Adelaide Oval to host exclusive performances of Franco Zeffirelli’s Aida in 2026  

The late Franco Zeffirelli's arena production of Verdi’s Egyptian-set opera Aida will be performed in Adelaide.

Richard Watts

Sep 3, 2025
'Back to the Future: The Musical', original Broadway cast. A young man leaps into the air while playing an electric guitar, accompanied by a blaze of sparks.
News

Back to the Future: The Musical set for 2025 Sydney premiere

Everything you need to know about the Olivier Award-winning musical, which is based on the 1985 film starring Michael J…

Richard Watts

Sep 2, 2025
A red-headed young boy leaps high into the air, one fist raised triumphantly above his head. He wears blue jeans, white socks and no shoes, and an orange and white striped t-shirt. The photo's background, a semi-rural landscape, is rendered in shades of blue, against which the boy stands out dramatically. The photo illustrates ArtsHub's weekly On the move column, a round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Sep 1, 2025
‘GARABARI’ by Joel Bray Dance was supported by BlakDance through the BlakForm program. Three First Nations dancers perform a floor-based section of movement in a photograph illustrating a story about NIDA's MFA (Cultural Leadership) program.
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How NIDA’s MFA (Cultural Leadership) is helping Merindah Donnelly change the arts sector for the better

The BlakDance Executive Producer and Co-CEO says studying and analysing different forms of cultural leadership at NIDA has had significant…

Richard Watts

Aug 29, 2025
Isabelle Huppert in 'Mary Said What She Said,' exclusive to the 2026 Adelaide Festival. The photograph depicts Huppert in a stylised stage performance, her white-painted face distorted and her arms thrown out as she cries aloud in grief or anger.
News

2026 Adelaide Festival reveals its first two productions

Fearless French actor Isabelle Huppert and acclaimed early music specialists Ensemble Pygmalion will perform exclusively at the 2026 Adelaide Festival.

Richard Watts

Aug 28, 2025
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