Three people with frosty face paint engage with a model ship on artificial snow. One holds a rope and another a flute, set against icy backdrops, creating a whimsical arctic scene.

Antarctica!

  • Kids & Families
  • Theatre
  • Utzon Room
  • Run time: 45 minutes Subject to change

A sensory adventure across ice and water!

We need you on board as our crew embarks on a daring voyage across Antarctica, battling unforgiving conditions and facing unknown dangers. This is more than a journey of survival: it’s a test of teamwork and camaraderie, where unity soon outweighs the original mission. But the question remains: will everyone make it back safely?

Step into an immersive theatrical adventure that transports you to the frozen frontier of Antarctica. Told through powerful music and movement, this sensory experience draws inspiration from Shackleton’s legendary expedition, when his ship Endurance was trapped by ice and ultimately lost to the depths...

Created by Irish sensory artist Phillida Eves and performer Amélie Bal, Antarctica! is designed especially for children with additional needs and their families, as well as younger children. Expect soundscapes and live music, textured sets and props, flurries of fabric and moments of deep connection between the performers, the story and the participants.

This is a story of endurance, friendship and finding your way home through ice and uncertainty—told not through words but through sensory wonder.

Antarctica! has been created for general public audiences with children aged 4 - 8, as well as for children and young people aged 14 - 18 with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.   

Sydney Opera House presents a Rosán Sensory Adventures production

Originally commissioned by the Baboró International Arts Festival for Children (Ireland), this tour is supported by Culture Ireland.

There are also performances of Antarctica! for schools.

Event details

Antarctica! is an uncompromising story of adventure, risk and perseverance in an icy environment that gently invites participation from its audience, on their own terms... An immersive experience full of joy and hope.

Aislinn Ó h’Eocha - Artistic Director, Baboró International Arts Festival for Children

About Rosán Sensory Adventures

Rosán (Rus-awn): a favourable wind and gentle sea.

Rosán Sensory Adventures, led by Phillida Eves, makes work with multidisciplinary artists, creating and presenting accessible, immersive, musical, movement and theatrical experiences with and for Autistic children and young people with intellectual learning disabilities.

Phillida Eves, the Artistic Director of Rosán Sensory Adventures, is a creative sensory artist and educator who is passionate about giving the audience a voice in the creative process and agency in expressing themselves through the creative arts. Phillida, and the artists she works with, develop the work with the children and young people, who are at the heart of the collaborative process. 

Cast and creatives

Artistic Director
Phillida Eves

Co-Creator & Circus Artist/Performer
Amélie Bal

Co-Creator
Phillida Eves

Producer
Elaine Donovan

Choreographer/Performer
Fionnuala Doyle Wade

Musician/Performer
Inés García Montero

Underscore & Sound Design
Alan Preims

Set Design
Orla Clogher

Stage Manager & Assistant Prop Maker
Karina Nachbar

Mentor
Nicole Arkless

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Utzon Room

The Utzon Room is located on the Eastern side of the Opera House, in front of the Joan Sutherland Theatre. Best accessed through the Box Office Foyer or the Covered Concourse. All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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