Where to now for contemporary performance?

Live art, greater agency for audiences, and one-on-one performances are now commonplace: what next?
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PACT celebrating 50 Years of the Edge: Lucille Lehr, Ubi Roi Refuse, PACT Ensemble 2011. Image via Facebook

Established in response to a Federal Government report which highlighted the dire state of Australia’s performing arts, film and television industries, PACT – a new company for Producers, Authors, Composers and Talent – opened its doors in 1964, in a much more conservative Australia. Then, nudity, swearing and sexual references on stage were enough to have shows raided by the police. Today, the cultural landscape is very different.

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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