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

Promotional image for Opera Australia's 2026 production of 'La Bohème'. The photo shows a young woman in white walking away from a young man, who clings to her left hand as if imploting her to stay.
News

Beleaguered Opera Australia announces its 2026 season

Next year marks the national opera company’s 70th anniversary, and follows a tumultuous 12 months for Opera Australia.

A publicity image for The Street Theatre's production of 'The Chosen Vessel', a new Aboriginal Gothic play by Dylan Van Den Berg. The photo depicts an Aboriginal woman staring at the camera; a white man stands ominously behind her, disappearing into the shadows.
Features

What is Aboriginal Gothic? Ask The Chosen Vessel playwright Dylan Van Den Berg

Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg and Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis discuss the emerging theatrical genre, Aboriginal Gothic.

Two male breakdancers perform on a high building, the cityscape visible behind them. The two young men are photographed in joint handstands; with their legs extended, their feet touching as if supporting one another. The photo illustrates Artshub's On the move column, a weekly summary of Australian arts sector appointments.
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Nina Korbe as Molly Johnson in a promotional image for QPAC and Opera Australia's 2026 co-production, 'The Drover's Wife – The Opera'. The photo shows a First Nations woman standing in profile, her arms folded and her face shadowed beneath a battered Akubra hat. The background is shadowy, highlighting the isolated female figure.
News

The Drover's Wife – The Opera to have 2026 world premiere at QPAC’s new Glasshouse Theatre

Adapted by Leah Purcell AM from her play, novel and film, The Drover's Wife – The Opera features a score…

Melbourne's Butterfly Club has closed, sending shockwaves through the independent sector. The photo depicts a dead butterfly, partially crushed on a sandy beach.
Features

How the independent sector rallied after The Butterfly Club’s shock closure

Indie companies and venues discuss the implications of The Butterfly Club’s closure, and sound a warning for the future of…

A promotional image for La Boite and Dead Puppet Society's climate change production, 'We're All Gonna Die!'. The photo shows a female Asian-Australian actor's shocked looking face as they are engulfed by spreading rubbish and garbage.
Features

We're All Gonna Die! – Maddie Nixon's climate show 'smashes Brisbane's buildings'

We’re All Gonna Die! embraces a monstrous metaphor, with the help of Dead Puppet Society and La Boite.

NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham MLC launches the Plan for Western Sydney Arts, Culture and Creative Industries: 2025-2028. The photo shows an animated man with silver hair and wearing a blue suit and white shirt but no tie. He stands at a lectern and gestures with his left hand.
News

$5 million arts strategy announced for Western Sydney

The NSW State Government has released a new three-year arts strategy for Western Sydney.

Ebony Bott, the incoming Artistic Director of Brisbane Festival. The photo shows a confident, fair-skinned woman with lightly curled, shoulder-length blonde hair smiling at the camera. She wears a charcoal-coloured jacket and pants over a white shirt.
News

Brisbane Festival appoints Ebony Bott as New Artistic Director

Ebony Bott’s first Brisbane Festival program will be presented in 2026.

A group of contemporary dancers, blurred in motion. The photo illustrates ArtsHub's On the move column, summarising the week's arts sector appointments.
News

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Three women with their backs to the camera admire a colourful mural, an emample of work supported by Regional Arts Development Orgsnisations in NSW.
News

Regional Arts Development Organisations protest NSW funding changes

Three regional arts development organisations have lost out on four-year Create NSW funding, putting their programs and activities at risk.

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