Blood, sweat and fears: establishing an independent theatre company

Plans, personnel, the right project – a number of ingredients are required when setting up a new theatre company.
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Running an independent theatre company can be exhausting, heartbreaking work. Conversely, it can also offer theatre-makers enormous freedom, allowing artistic vision to flourish unhindered from commercial imperatives – albeit usually on the smell of an oily rag.

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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