Bringing high quality productions since 1997

Sevenoaks Shakespeare was founded in 1997 to promote and enjoy the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, giving members the chance to get involved both on and off the stage. 

Starting from humble (but always ambitious) origins, we began with a 24 hour "readathon" in 1997, with eager volunteers performing readings of as many of the Complete Works as they could in a 24 hour period. From there, a Society was formed, and after our 1998 inaugural production of King Lear, we have grown and developed into the company we are today. 

No stranger to comedy or tragedy, Sevenoaks Shakespeare have ever since those simple beginnings mounted a full-scale open-air Shakespeare production once a year (with only a break in proceedings for the pandemic), have toured our shows to different venues outside of Kent, plus in more recent years have participated in drama festivals regionally. Our members were originally from the Sevenoaks district in Kent, but now come from much further afield to be a part of the production, as do our audiences. We are always trying to expand the ways we can perform and share the works of Shakespeare, his contemporaries, or plays that are tonally and thematically similar. In the last year, we have also included pop-up flash mob style performances and readings as a new way of introducing new audiences to text and performance. We also try to arrange a variety of activities during the year, such as workshops, theatre visits and social events, including our annual Twelfth Night Quiz, with the opportunity to become Sevenoaks Shakespeare's Lord or Lady of Misrule for the year.

As we welcome you to the online home of the company, feel free to look through our photos of previous productions, read what our audiences have had to say about our productions, read articles from our company members, and engage with us through the Contact Us section, or on our social media.