#justnotthatmany campaign spreads across social media

The #justnotthatmany campaign addresses the lack of diversity on Australian stages and screens by flipping the existing narrative in a joyous celebration of community.

Image credit: Sarah Walker Photography.

‘We tried to find an actor of colour for the role but there’s just not that many,’ has for too long been the refrain of casting directors and theatre companies defending their retrograde casting decisions.

Utilising the hashtag #justnotthatmany, a new social media initiative aims to flip that refrain on its head by showing just how many diverse actors and theatre makers – from a range of communities and cultural groups – there really are in Australia.

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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