The unbearable whiteness of being

Recent conversations about mainstage theatre’s lack of cultural diversity have been highlighted by the latest round of 2017 season launches.
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Hero image for the MTC’s 2017 production Vivid White, a new play by Eddie Perfect.

September and October are season-launch time in Australia, when the country’s largest theatre companies release details of their subscription programs for the following year. While Brisbane’s La Boite and Western Australia’s Black Swan are still to launch their 2017 programs, we already have a strong indication of what mainstage Australian theatre will look like next year – and despite significant advances in some states, it’s still predominantly white, both onstage and behind the scenes.

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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