News

Northern Rivers companies focus on flood recovery

After devastating floods at the end of February, artists and arts organisations in the Northern Rivers are now focused on rebuilding and recovery.

16 Mar 2022 8:00

Richard Watts

Muddy brown water dominiates the phot, which shows a theatre half-sumerged by floods.

Performing Arts

NORPA in Lismore was inundated by floodwaters, March 2022. Image supplied.

‘People talk about resilience in theatre companies, and I must admit, I’m pretty tired of that word at the moment,’ said Julian Louis, Artistic Director of Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA).

Now that the floodwaters have receded, the hard task of cleaning and rebuilding is underway, though as Louis explained, the damage to organisations like NORPA is significant – far exceeding the destruction caused by previous flooding in 2017.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's former 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