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 early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts

Richard Watts's Latest Articles

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…

Bangarra's Terrain at Sydney Opera House. The photo shows an Aboriginal woman dancing, caught mid-routine, with her right leg dramatically raised; her right arm is bent above her head. Other dancers are visible, kneeling on the stage behind her.
News

Bangarra awarded prestigious Golden Lion by the Venice Biennale Danza 2026

The First Nations dance company, under the artistic direction of Frances Rings, will be the first Australian company to win…

A man seen from behind on a bushwalk through Yarraville, Victoria. He wears a cap, a loose shirt, shorts and sturdy boots as he walks away from the camera down a dirt track lined with ferns and trees. A camera is slung over his back, and he carries a slender brach as a walking stick. arts sector appointments
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Carsten Nicolai's installation Bausatz Noto (1998) at The Vinyl Factory: Reverb. A dark skinned woman wearing a red leather jacket and headphones listens to music at a desk of turntables. A rack of brightly coloured vinyl records stands behind her.
News

London's The Vinyl Factory coming to ACMI for RISING

The Vinyl Factory: Reverb is an expansive exhibition about the grooves music has left in history and culture.

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