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 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. 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

The Sydney Opera House Shop could soon be stocking your work thanks to the annual Uncovered retail program. The photo depicts a woman walking towards the door of the Sydney Opera House Shop, through which a range of retail objects can be glimpsed.
Sponsored

Creativity uncovered: bespoke Australian designs sought for Sydney Opera House Shop

Applications are now open for Sydney Opera House’s annual Uncovered program: an opportunity for local artisans and designers to connect…

A render of Laak Boorndap, the new urban garden being built as part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.
News

New urban garden, Laak Boorndap, revealed for Melbourne Arts Precinct

Situated on an elevated deck, the 18,000 square metres of parkland will provide a quick, accessible and safe connection from…

A carefully staged and rather camp photograph of two men dressed in white and lounging on a white couch. A statue of a golden lion sits beside one of the men, who are the stars of Sydney Festival's 'Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera'.
News

What happens in Vegas comes to Sydney Festival: Siegfried & Roy opera set for world premiere

A new chamber opera about Las Vegas magicians Siegfried and Roy has been announced as the centrepiece production of the…

A muscular person, naked from the waist up and facing away from the camera, dances on a reflective floor. He wears a long white dress which swirls out around him and contrasts dramatically with the black background and dark, polished floor. The image illustrates On the Move, a weekly column detailing Australian arts sector appointments and resignations.
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Our weekly round-up of Australian arts sector comings and goings.

Dancer/choreographer Luke Murphy, looking sweaty and slightly dishevelled, holds an old-fashioned alarm clock up to one ear, in a scene from the dance-theatre production Volcano. He wears a dark suit jacket over a grey coat, and stands in front of a background of dingy wallpaper to which sheets of blank paper are pinned.
StarsStarsStarsStarsStars

Festival review: Volcano, Brisbane Powerhouse

On a glassed-in stage, two men reenact their memories in an endless loop – but what if those memories aren’t…

Peering inside the set design for the final Slingsby production, 'A Concise Compendium of Wonder'. In the photo, a man peers through a small doorway into the interior of the model.
News

Slingsby Theatre Company’s 2026 production to be its last

The South Australian company will wind up in its 20th year with a final, ambitious work.

Arts News and Trending Topics. A red and white megaphone floats above a loudspeaker, conveying the message of arts news and arts sector headlines being announced.
News

This week’s arts news and trending topics

We report it – you read it. This week’s top arts news stories.

Jessica Cottis, a fair-skinned woman with long dark hair tied back behind her head, conducts the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. She wears a black jacket over a white shirt, and holds a white baton in her raised right hand.
Features

Celebrating connection and story: Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s 75th anniversary season

Jessica Cottis, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the CSO, discusses her 2025 season and the importance of commissioning new…

The three members of Irish rap group Kneecap lie shirtless on the floor, surrounded by empty baggies, scattered pills and an empty bottle of Buckfast, suggesting the aftermath of a wild, drug-fuelled night. Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap movie is a semi-fictionalised biopic about the band.
StarsStarsStarsStarsStars

Kneecap film review: top showcase of the hip hop trio’s talents

Rich Peppiatt’s debut feature is a bawdy, rambunctious and semi-fictionalised biopic of Belfast rappers Kneecap.

The musicians of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra arrayed on stage in a grand concert hall.
News

Managing Director leaves MSO: Peter Garrett to conduct independent external review

Sophie Galaise has left the MSO after the Orchestra’s musicians made a statement of 'no confidence' in senior management.

1 2 3 4 5 225