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

Connor Morel's Good Man at Adelaide Fringe 2026.
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Good Man review: a rock-cabaret about rejecting toxic masculinity, at Adelaide Fringe

Connor Morel looks back on his younger exploits with the benefits of hindsight and the backing of a tight and…

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker at Adelaide Festival 2026. Cocker, a fair-skinned, middle aged man with glasses, raises his right hand high and sings loudly into a microphone. A video screen behind him shows dazzling, colourful images.
News

‘All voices should be heard’, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker tells Adelaide Festival crowd

Cocker's pointed reference to an earlier censorship issue was made as Pulp played the opening night of Adelaide Festival 2026.

Two dancers clad in fetish wear-inspired costumes crouch forward as they jump a woollen rope inside a circle of light on stage. Joshua Doctor and Yilin Kong in ADT's Faraway by Jenni Large at Adelaide Festival 2026.
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ATD’s Faraway review: a writhing, driving techno-primitive delight at Adelaide Festival 2026

Choreographed by Jenni Large, ADT’s Faraway is a rich, erotically charged work, the dance equivalent of howling orgiastically at the…

Two actors stand over a miniature walled garden. One actor, bearded and wearing a cap, lets a handful of stage snow rain down as the other actor, who is female-presenting, watches on delightedly. A scene from The Giant's Garden, part of Slingsby's A Concise Compendium of Wonder at Adelaide Festival 2026.
Features

Slingsby’s last hurrah: a fairy tale triptych in an intimate, custom-built theatre

Adelaide company Slingsby is mounting its final work, A Concise Compendium of Wonder, in a custom-made, environmentally friendly theatre for…

A ruinous building falling into disrepar and decay. defunded arts organisations
Features

Is the creative state crumbling? Defunded arts organisations fear the answer is yes

Eight successful arts organisations have suddenly been defunded, while others have only been funded for two years instead of four,…

A woman kayaking in a fast-flowing, choppy river. arts sector appoinments
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Kala Gare in the MTC production, My Brilliant Career. A young woman in a Victorian-era dresses stands atop a piano, holding one fist up triumphantly; an ornate chandelier hangs above her.
News

My Brilliant Career wins Australia’s richest playwriting prize at AWGIE awards

The MTC's musical adaptation of My Brilliant Career has won the $120,000 David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for…

The Art of Storm-Whistling. Photo: Curious Roach Collective.
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The Art of Storm-Whistling: a mythical maritime story at Adelaide Fringe

The Art of Storm-Whistling follows a mythical journey across the seas.

James Rowland: Team Viking. A fair-skinned man with straw-blonde hair and a reddish beard stands thigh deep in the waters of the Thames. He is wearing a plastic Viking helmet with ahistorical horns, a black suit, white business shirt and black tie, and carries a burning torch made of rolled-up paper.
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Team Viking review: a hilarious, heartbreaking and healing masterpiece

The remarkable Team Viking was one of the standouts of the Adelaide Fringe opening weekend.

Neurospicy: The Musical at Adelaide Fringe. A fair-skinned young woman dressed in a red chili costume and smiling at the camera.

Adelaide Fringe reviews: Pinky von Sox and the Novel Stand-Up Experience, and Neurospicy: The Musical

A Fringe first-timer’s engaging exploration of neurodiversity and an improvised storytelling show are among the offerings at this year’s Adelaide…

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