Peter Knapp, founder of The Singers Company, is out to put the fun back into opera with two light operas, Rossini's Barber of Seville and Offenbach's La Perichole, to be presented at Oxford Playhouse next week. - Vintage Photograph

Many people don't put a night at the opera at the top of their list of things to do for an evening out, but Peter Knapp, founder of The Singers Company, is out to change that. Founded in the summer of 1978 and subsidised by Southern Arts and the Arts Council of Great Britain, The Singers Company is creating an alternative to traditional opera that is designed to make it more appealing and accessible to more people. Both operas will be sung in English, with the Barber of Seville being updated to 1930s Spain and a mini-orchestra of 12 musicians accompanying the production. The production of La Perichole, Offenbach's delightfully-comic love story set in Paris, was acclaimed when it premiered at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith earlier this year and is to be filmed by the BBC in February. The Barber of Seville will be presented at the Playhouse on Many people don't put a night at the opera at the top of their list of things to do for an evening out, but Peter Knapp, founder of The Singers Company, is out to change that. Founded in the summer of 1978 and subsidised by Southern Arts and the Arts Council of Great Britain, The Singers Company is creating an alternative to traditional opera that is designed to make it more appealing and accessible to more people. Both operas will be sung in English, with the Barber of Seville being updated to 1930s Spain and a mini-orchestra of 12 musicians accompanying the production. The production of La Perichole, Offenbach's delightfully-comic love story set in Paris, was acclaimed when it premiered at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith earlier this year and is to be filmed by the BBC in February. The Barber of Seville will be presented at the Playhouse on

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