Technically, live performance has a gender issue

Gender parity among lighting, sound and video designers is almost non-existent. A new initiative aims to change that.

THE RABBLE’s Joan at Theatre Works, 2017, lighting design by Emma Valente. Photo: David Paterson.

The Australian theatre community took swift action in 2009 when Belvoir, closely followed by Melbourne Theatre Company, launched subscription programs featuring only one female director in each company’s 2010 season.

Read: Breaking down the boy’s club

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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