Who suffers when theatres go dark?

Despite the best intentions of producers, and the hopes of cast and crew, sometimes shows close early. As a worker, you need the skills and flexibility to cope.
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Despite the best intentions of producers, and the hopes of cast and crew, sometimes shows close early. As a worker, you need the skills and flexibility to cope.

Any such closure – especially in the case of major productions such as The Addams Family, which cancelled its national tour after closing its run early in Sydney this year – has ramifications for the industry as a whole: shockwaves ripple across the country as jobs that previously seemed secure topple like ninepins.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts