Digital technologies have become more and more prevalent in digital performance and installation art systems. As these systems increase in complexity, the likelihood of failure also increases, with serious consequences for the artists and performers who rely upon them. This paper describes a support architecture, on which installation and performance control software can run, which helps to improve the dependability of such systems. The developed architecture is based on recognized best practice from critical systems research, and the support features provided have been designed using insight gained from the authors' experiences as practitioners in the digital arts domain.