News

Exit John Bell, to great applause

The founder of Australia’s national Shakespeare company has announced his curtain call, and leaves a substantial legacy.

10 Oct 2014

Richard Watts

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Performing Arts

John Bell in Bell Shakespeare’s 2010 production of King Lear; image supplied

‘He hath left them you and to your heirs for ever, common pleasures.’ (Julius Caesar, Act III Scene 2)

Mark Antony’s tribute to Caesar’s legacy evokes the inheritance that John Bell, founder and Artistic Director of Australia’s national Shakespeare company, has left the country’s audiences: theatrical pleasures that are destined to survive him.

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Richard Watts

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