Our Background and Mission

Kent Opera was England's first regional opera company, founded in 1969 to bring the finest performances of opera to enthusiasts living outside London.

Since April 2016 Kent Opera the charity has worked hard to maintain the traditions of the original opera company in a variety of education and outreach projects utilising the power of music and drama to transform lives.

Our work has been in prisons as well as in the community, harnessing the power of drama and teamwork to help offenders shift their lives in a fresh direction. Several times a year we offered people who are looking for a new personal path the chance to work with a team of professional performers by taking part in an original piece of theatre including Hamlet in 45 Minutes, Half an Hour in the Tempest — which they helped to devise and develop themselves. By experiencing the challenges and inspiration of creative performance they could apply those principles to their own lives, practicing, and hopefully developing, the flexibility, determination and positive mindset that we all need to put on a good show.

With the escalation of knife crime our focus since 2022 has been to "fight weapons with words" and create talking head dramatisations of real-life stories that can be used to educate audiences on the dangers of carrying a knife.