Disability Arts History Australia

“Documentary ‘Stepping Out’ follows first group of intellectually disabled people to perform at the Sydney Opera House”

Item

Title

“Documentary ‘Stepping Out’ follows first group of intellectually disabled people to perform at the Sydney Opera House”

Description

In preparation for the International Year of Disabled Persons, a documentary was made called ‘Stepping Out’ directed by Chris Noonan and narrated by Romayne Grace, a resident at the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home. The documentary follows a group of residents as they prepare for their big debut at the Sydney Opera House. The movie was shown during the International Year of the Disabled's UN closing ceremony. The 1979/1980 Australia Council report had the following statement "A production staged at the Sydney Opera House by residents of the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home for the intellectually handicapped impressed the Theatre Board as both innovative arts-based therapy and worthwhile theatre in its own right." The 1980/81 report further stated "It was the first time anywhere in the world that a group of mentally handicapped people had performed publicly in the cultural centre of their city."

Identifier

AC00050

Publisher

Disability Arts History Australia

datePublished

1980s

location

Sydney

New South Wales

category

Action

Type

Create Action

Format

Text

inLanguage

English

keywords

Disability Arts Practice, Film/TV/New Media, Theatre and Performance, Awareness Raising

copyrightNotice

© Disability Arts History Australia, Contributed by Annie Rolfe

url

https://web.archive.org/web/20110319185105/https://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/stepping-out/clip2/

creator

Aldo Gennaro

exampleOfWork

"Stepping Out - 1980"

Item sets

Action