Who suffers when theatres go dark?

Despite the best intentions of producers, and the hopes of cast and crew, sometimes shows close early. As a worker, you need the skills and flexibility to cope.
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Despite the best intentions of producers, and the hopes of cast and crew, sometimes shows close early. As a worker, you need the skills and flexibility to cope.

Any such closure – especially in the case of major productions such as The Addams Family, which cancelled its national tour after closing its run early in Sydney this year – has ramifications for the industry as a whole: shockwaves ripple across the country as jobs that previously seemed secure topple like ninepins.

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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