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 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

Richard Watts's Latest Articles

A promotional image for Queensland Theatre's 2025 production 'Malacañang Made Us'. A young Filipino person in ragged shorts, thongs and a mesh t-shirt reclines in an ornate gold and velvet throne.
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Queensland Theatre launches 2025 season with AD’s role still vacant

A triumvirate of Associate Artistic Directors have programmed the company’s 2025 season, which includes two world premieres of very local…

Sydney Festival's incoming Festival Director Kris Nelson. Kris sits on a stairwell smiling; he has short-cropped brown hair and a moustache, and wears an olive-coloured shirt.
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Sydney Festival announces Canadian Kris Nelson as 2026-2029 Festival Director

Nelson, previously the AD/CEO of London International Festival of Theatre and Dublin Fringe's Festival Director, will start his tenure with…

On the Move is ArtsHub's weekly summary of Australian arts sector appointments and resignations. A yacht leaves a white wake behind it, in a photo taken from the mast and looking down towards the deck and the ocean.
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On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Our weekly round-up of Australian arts sector comings and goings.

Hazem Shammas will play the titular role in Bell Shakespeare's 2025 production of 'Coriolanus'. A man with dark, curly hair and wearing a brown suit holds his right hand to his mouth. A butterfly is perched on his fingertips.
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From rarely seen tragedy to popular history play: Bell Shakespeare launches 2025 season

Rarely staged in Australia, Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’ is one of three major productions presented by Bell Shakespeare in the company’s 35th…

Venezuelan-born male soprano Samuel Mariño opens the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra's 2025 season. Wearing a green velvet waistcoat, a pale pink shirt and a cravat, Mariño - who has light brown skin, dark eyes and curly black hair - parts a pair of white lace curtains and gently smiles at the camera.
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Going for baroque in 2025: Australian Brandenburg Orchestra celebrates its 35th anniversary

From Handel and Bach to new collaborations and commissions, the Brandenburg’s 2025 season promises to excite and delight.

Greek-Australian actor, director and advocate Lex Marinos has died aged 75. The photo shows Marinos in a thoughtful pose. his grey hair short, his face lined and his right hand rested contemplatively on his chin.
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Vale Lex Marinos OAM: actor, director, broadcaster and champion of diversity in the arts

The acclaimed and much-loved Greek-Australian actor, writer, director and advocate died last Friday, aged 75.

A dynamic image of a woman dressed in a back wetsuit and white helmet, riding a white surfboard. Water sprays behind her as she rides the wave. The photo illustrate's ArtsHub's weekly On the Move column about Australian arts sector appointments.
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On the move: latest arts sector appointments

Our weekly round-up of Australian arts sector comings and goings.

Benjamin Garrett as Bosie and Callum Linnane as Oscar Wilde in The Australian Ballet's 'Oscar', choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. A moody photo depicting the sexual relationship between Oscar and Bosie through dance, with Bodie's foot hooked behind Oscar's leg as he leans away.
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Dance review: Oscar, Regent Theatre

The life, loves and legend of Oscar Wilde take centre stage in the world premiere of the first full-length ballet…

Winners of the 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards: 024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. From left, back row: Ryan Cropp, Andre Dao, Cecelia Edwards, Penny Smith and Amy Crutchfield. From left, front row: Leah Leaman, Daniel Browning, Will Kostakis and Gregory Crocetti. Five people are standing, another four sit in front of them, in the forecourt of Parliament House, Canberra.
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Failure and frustration spawn success for Prime Minister’s Literary Awards winners

Six books including a debut novel and a debut poetry collection have each received $80,000 in this year’s Prime Minister’s…

Dressed in yellow and green robes with ornate headwear, two Asian-Australian artists, Joe Paradise Lui (left) and Merlynn Tong (right), pose against a red background. Promotional image for the 2025 MTC production 'Legends (of the Golden Arches)'. MTC 2025 season.
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MTC launches 2025 season with revivals, remounts and new Australian work

Brave programming and resonant stories are central to Anne-Louise Sarks’ third MTC season as Artistic Director.

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