Vale Frank van Straten AM

The renowned theatre historian, archivist, author and performing arts devotee has died, aged 87.
A black and white photograph of a well-presented, older white man standing in a doorway, with his left hand on his hip and hie right hand and upper arm braced against the doorframe. Many bookshelves are visible in the background behind them. Frank Van Straten.

The inaugural archivist at the Performing Arts Museum (now Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne) and later its founding Director, renowned theatre historian Frank Van Straten AM has died aged 87.

An avid stamp collector when young, Van Straten later moved onto collecting theatre programs, having fallen in love with the theatre thanks to the very first production he saw, the musical comedy White Horse Inn at Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre.

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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