Older Women's Network Theatre Group Who We Are The steps of Parliament House in Canberra formed the first stage for the Older Women's Network Theatre Group. In 1987, a group of activist women with plenty to sing about travelled from Sydney to take their message of age discrimination and disadvantage to the nation's capital and the ears of politicians. They caused quite a stir, and inspired by the positive reception to their messages, they formed a group that has gone from strength to strength reaching audiences around Australia, and overseas.  Since it formed, the OWN Theatre Group has been promoting the rights, dignity and wellbeing of older women through the power of engaging, entertaining and challenging theatre. Their vision is to enlighten and move audiences through songs and sketches about the many issues facing older women today. These include homelessness, abuse, discrimination and societal invisibility. They do this through positive messages showing audiences the joy that comes from belonging to a theatre group, finding humour in adversity as well as passion and poignancy.   In 2023, they performed as Crones In Cabaret at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, one of the biggest in the world, with their one hour show, Not Dead Yet! The show won an award for best cabaret and sold out three shows at the Warehouse Theatre. Since then, they have performed for Mission Australia, for International Day Against Elder Abuse for the Inner West Council, and at the Older Women's Network National Conference as well as smaller shows in Sydney. Not Dead Yet! follows the success of the group's long running production, Don't Knock Your Granny, a show highlighting elder abuse. The group performed Don't Knock Your Granny at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018 to rave reviews. In 2020, it won critical acclaim at the Adelaide Fringe just days before the Covid lockdown. The group has done important work on violence against older women through Granny which has been used as an educational tool through a campaign and video and has now been seen by thousands, live or on video. It has been performed at conferences, community and council events and for Seniors Week events.  The group’s ethos is to include all women in every aspect of the production including research, writing and workshopping material, choreography and costumes. Confidence is built by reassuring performers that physical disabilities or mental health issues will never impact on their ability to be a valued part of the group. The Theatre Group is a safe and welcoming space for older women, and an inclusive place to build self-esteem, friendship and importantly, enhance their own status in society. Its members come to weekly rehearsals in Newtown from surrounding suburbs but also as far away as Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands.