Why theatre-makers need new definitions of success

There’s more to a successful career than financial stability and regular mainstage work.
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Success can sometimes seem impossibly out of reach. Image: publicity photo for Angels in America. Photography by Sarah Walker, model Joseph Simons.

What does career success look like? Outside the arts sector, one easily applicable definition is the linear career progression, such as the 20th century cliché of starting in a company’s mailroom and ending up as CEO. Another way that success is defined is by the size of one’s pay-packet – theoretically, the more money you make, the more successful you are.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts