Playground Opera 2024: The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara

Playground Opera makes opera more accessible and provides an exciting first experience of opera for hundreds of children. We prioritised schools in areas of rural or economic deprivation, where children have little access to high quality culture. 

Playground Opera abridges classic operas, involving the pupils in rewriting the story, meeting the characters, and singing and dancing along to the music, resulting in an absorbing and highly engaging performance.

We spent a whole day at each school, giving 1,740 pupils the chance to dig deeper and analyse the story, working in small groups with our team to make the story more relevant and in most cases, more extraordinary. 

Our 2024 playground opera turned L’elisir d’amore into The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara. We visited a variety of schools in rural Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, as well as giving our first public performance in Cidermill theatre, attended by 95 local families.

We worked with 12 schools – three of these were over 36% pupil premium. 1,740 children were directly involved, 403 of these in workshops and the performance.

All schools were sent learning packs prior to our visit that had been created to maximise impact and cohesion with the curriculum in Maths, Music, English, History and Languages.

Outcomes & Impact:

• 100% of schools believed that this project exceeded their expectations in terms of quality and enjoyment and learning something new.
• 100% of schools would like us to return with another Playground Opera. 
• 100% of schools would recommend us to other schools.

The opportunity to engage in high-quality artistic experiences can give students a huge boost in confidence. Our approach creates a fun and liberating environment in which children can express themselves.

Hundreds of children were shown how to project their singing voices and to express themselves through movement. Throughout the process, all children listened, collaborated and followed instructions. We sent feedback forms to each school and directly interviewed teaching staff and students to evaluate the impact of the day.