Richard Watts, Author at ArtsHub Australia

Richard Watts

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 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. 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

Richard Watts's Latest Articles

Bangarra's Terrain at Sydney Opera House. The photo shows an Aboriginal woman dancing, caught mid-routine, with her right leg dramatically raised; her right arm is bent above her head. Other dancers are visible, kneeling on the stage behind her.

Bangarra awarded prestigious Golden Lion by the Venice Biennale Danza 2026

The First Nations dance company, under the artistic direction of Frances Rings, will be the first Australian company to win…

Richard Watts

Feb 20, 2026

A man seen from behind on a bushwalk through Yarraville, Victoria. He wears a cap, a loose shirt, shorts and sturdy boots as he walks away from the camera down a dirt track lined with ferns and trees. A camera is slung over his back, and he carries a slender brach as a walking stick. arts sector appointments

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Feb 17, 2026

Carsten Nicolai's installation Bausatz Noto (1998) at The Vinyl Factory: Reverb. A dark skinned woman wearing a red leather jacket and headphones listens to music at a desk of turntables. A rack of brightly coloured vinyl records stands behind her.

London's The Vinyl Factory coming to ACMI for RISING

The Vinyl Factory: Reverb is an expansive exhibition about the grooves music has left in history and culture.

Richard Watts

Feb 17, 2026

An earlier performance of POV, featuring different cast members than the performance reviews. n 11-year-old girl holds a sophisticated camera complete with antennae to broadcast it to screens in the theatre. She is filming a male actor, whose image is visible on a large screen behind them.

POV review: live cinema refracts real life at Perth Festival

POV is a moving three-hander that features two new, unrehearsed adult actors every night.

Richard Watts

Feb 16, 2026

Ludovico Di Ubaldo and Charles Dashwood in Ihsan Rustem’s Incandescence for West Australian Ballet's Ballet at the Quarry: Incandescence, 2026. Two shirtless male dancers, one with his back to the camera. The man facing the camera tender holds the other man's head in his right hand. A line of internally illuminated PVC piping physically seperates them.

Ballet at the Quarry: Incandescence review: four world premieres danced under the stars

A Perth Festival staple, this outdoor performance features four new commissions, including Ihsan Rustem’s stunning Incandescence.

Richard Watts

Feb 14, 2026

The late Jon Kudelka. A plump, smiling fair-skinned man with short brown hair and a short beard. He is smiling, wears a plaid shirt, and sits in front of a colourful yellow backdrop.

Vale Tasmanian cartoonist and artist Jon Kudelka

Remembered and admired for his Walkley-winning political cartoons, as well as his illustrations and anti-Tasmanian tourism stance, Kudelka died on…

Richard Watts

Feb 10, 2026

A black and white photograph of a person diving off a pier as another person sits watching. arts sector appointments

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Feb 10, 2026

A long angle photo taken from the edge of a swimming pool showing three women in swimming caps and bathing suits, each in a seperate lane, racing towards the edge of the pool. art sector appointments

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Feb 3, 2026

Kala Gare in MTC's 2026 production of My Brilliant Career. Gare sits on stage in period dress as her character, Sybylla Melvyn; she grins devilishly and sits with her legs spread wide.

My Brilliant Career review: a mostly stellar adaptation of Miles Franklin’s 1901 novel

Melbourne Theatre Company’s musical My Brilliant Career is a joyful adaptation of the iconic novel, brought to the stage with…

Richard Watts

Jan 29, 2026

A stark, simple photo pf a male circus performer caught mid-trick in an acrobalance routine. One hand holds the performer aloft; their other arm is held up straight towards the blue sky and their legs, which are spread so widely as to create an almost straight, slightly angled line. arts sector appointments

On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Your weekly round-up of Australian arts sector appointments.

Richard Watts

Jan 27, 2026

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