Stepping Out Theatre - The UK’s Leading Mental Health Theatre Group

Founded inside a Bristol psychiatric hospital on All Fools' Day 1997, we celebrated our Silver Anniversary in 2022, and are still going strong. Stepping Out Theatre occupy a unique place in the UK's history of theatre and mental health. It has produced a huge range of work on mental health themes and is open to people who have used mental health services and their allies.

In 27 years of producing live theatre, we have produced well over 100 live theatre shows, ranging from large scale community theatre productions with dozens of service users involved to small scale touring professional fringe productions, and from full scale musical theatre to shows rehearsed and performed entirely online during Covid lockdowns.

To mark our silver anniversary, we made our third, and most ambitious trip yet to the greatest theatre festival in the world. In August 2022, a dedicated 24 strong team of Stepping Out Artists and Ambassadors took no fewer than SIX productions to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Six months of planning and preparation, with previews in London, Clevedon and Bristol led up to 48 performances of our six shows in just 9 days in Edinburgh over the first two weeks of the Fringe Festival.

Postponed twice because of Covid, in 2023 we took two productions of new work by Ukrainian playwrights to the international 'Water is Memory' Festival in Vichy, where we performed inside an Art Deco World Heritage listed 1920s theatre.

Here's to the next 27 years.

Mark Rylance, Patron

"The work Stepping Out Theatre is doing should be supported by all interested in a society that is healthy. Stepping Out understands and does not shy away from the possibility that theatre, the ancient art of these islands North West of Europe, is a transformative and healing activity which brings joy into people's lives. If you want to hear something true, go and hear what Stepping Out Theatre are saying. I only found myself in theatre, and I hear that Stepping Out is helping other people do the same. I have great hopes for this company and deep respect for what they are doing right now."

Next Show

The Theatre of War Project

The Theatre Of War Project (2nd May 2022 - March 2026)

An online reading of Natalya Vorozhbit's Bad Roads was the first of a series of Ukrainian plays to be read by Stepping Out Theatre in partnership with Worldwide Ukrainian Playreadings, the Playwrights Theatre of Kyiv and the Centre for International Theatre Development. In particular, we are building a partnership with the writers of the Playwrights Theatre of Kyiv, and four playwrights from the group joined us live on the evening of May 2nd. Others joined to hear their work performed during subsequent online readings, and a year later, we mounted our first full stage production of Ukrainian work with Liudmyla Tymoshenko and Maryana Smilyanets' Refugee Cats which toured from the UK to France.

Supporting art and culture in Ukraine is a vital strand in supporting their independence as a country. All monies raised through these events goes directly to theatre artists in Ukraine and the charities they nominate who are supporting the war effort.

Theatre of War Project Logo Design - Liudmyla Tymoshenko

Please consider supporting future events both online and staged in this initiative, which we will keep you updated about here.

LONG LIVE THE FREE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE!

Readings

2nd May 2022 - Bad Roads by Natalya Vorzhbit

30th May 2022 - Seven Against Moscow

4th November 2022 - HIMARS1 To Russia with Love

15th February 2023 - The Leopards are Already Here

13 - 24th May 2023 - Refugee Cats

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02 May 2022 to 24 May 2025
*** LIVE ONLINE ***

Latest News

Geoff Innoles
Feb 2025

Sadly, we have to announce that our much loved Chair, Geoff Innoles, has passed away. As Stepping Out folks will know, his last chemotherapy back in November was a particularly tough one, and he has struggled since. He was admitted to hospital with an infection, and passed away peacefully on Sunday 16th February with his two daughters Sam and Charlotte at his bedside. At Geoff's request, he left this world to the sound of David Bowie playing at his side.

Geoff gave Stage 4 lung cancer a real run for its money.

A sweeter, kinder person never graced our company. Geoff was an incredibly active member of the group while almost never setting foot onstage. As a professional printer he did all of our printing, rarely charging much if at all, he also videoed our performances. He came away with us to places such as Edinburgh and contributed a huge amount to those trips. He was a positive, stabilising presence in our group for several years. Thanks for everything you gave us Geoff – you were the best of us, and will be sorely missed.

Picture: Geoff, third from left, next to our patron Mark Rylance

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