Lure of community brings MTC’s next Artistic Director back to Melbourne

Anne-Louise Sarks came of age artistically in Melbourne, and is excited about championing the city's artists and playwrights in her new leadership role at the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Anne-Louise Sarks has had an intense few months since COVID first impacted on the arts sector internationally.

Only 12 months ago she was living in the UK and preparing to open a new production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in Basel, Switzerland. Five days before its premiere the production was cancelled.

Jump forward a year and Sarks finds herself living back in her hometown of Sydney temporarily, nursing a month-old baby boy, and planning a move back to Melbourne, where she established her theatre career after graduating from the VCA in 2007.

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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