Opera and circus: strange bedfellows

Contemporary art form meets 17th century tradition; an unlikely pairing rich with potential.

Il Ritorno photo by Damien Bredberg

Though collaboration is common in our sector, it’s often between artists working in similar art forms or sharing methodologies. Rarer are collaborations which push audiences and artists alike outside their comfort zones, such as two upcoming productions which unite performers from the disparate worlds of opera and circus.

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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