Stepping Out

Stepping Out is a play written by British playwright Richard Harris (born 1934, London)[1] in 1984. It was produced in the West End, London, where it received the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award, and on Broadway, New York. The play concerns eight individuals from disparate backgrounds and with differing motivations who attend the same weekly tap dancing class in a dingy North London church hall. Despite the students at first treating the classes as social occasions, and showing little co-ordination, they later develop a level of skill and cohesiveness. The dance routines are the background for the focus of the play, the relationship and interaction of different people.

Performance history in South Africa

1985: Produced in South Africa by Pieter Toerien by arrangement with Bill Kenwright, opening 17 November 1985. Directed by Rex Garner, performed at the Baxter Theatre featuring Sandra Duncan (Mavis), Sue Kelly Christie (Dorothy), Nomsa Nene (Rose), Trish McKenna (Lynne), Jeni-Lyn McLaren (The Girl), Dorothy-Ann Gould (Andy), Joy Stewart Spence (Vera), Fiona Ramsay (Sylvia), Claire Robins (Maxine), Jeanette James (Mrs Fraser), Bruce Millar (Geoffrey). Lighting by Jannie Swanepoel, choreographed by Trish McKenna, set designed by Kay Page.

2006: Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin, with Michele Levin, Lindy Abromowitz, Elizabeth Frandsen, Vicky Friedman, Dawn Lindberg, Slindile Nodangala, Anne Power, Brenda Radloff, Kathy-Jo Ross and David Vlok. At Theatre on the Bay.

Sources

Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne (eds.). 1988. Theatre Alive! The Baxter Story 1977-1987.

Wikipedia [2].

Stepping Out theatre programme, 1985.

Cape Times, 24 August 2006.

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