In 1993 on a hot, stormy July evening in Rochester Castle I stood on the threshold of a new chapter in my life. I was watching unfold in front of me the start of my opera career as a producer. I have never known such excitement, such a feeling of euphoria as I heard the opening notes of Verdi’s opera, ‘Nabucco’. The whole scene was pure drama, a massive Pavarotti stage against the backdrop of the historical Norman fortress which is Rochester Castle. As the sun sank below the River Medway some 200 Romanians from the Romanian National Opera flooded the stage, the Romanian flag flew from the battlements and 7000 people watched with expectation for an event which had not taken place before in Britain. Then, of course, came the rain. It poured and poured on the great stoical British audience who never left. The evening ended with a 10 minute ovation from the crowds and amongst them was my very good friend Ralph Steadman and his family.

I remembered the beginnings of my opera career some 15 years later as I stood in the pouring rain for a press photo shoot with my friend, and now patron, Ralph Steadman, of my new company ‘Ellen Kent & Amphitheatre Productions’, on Wednesday 9 July 2008 with the backdrop, not of Rochester Castle this time, but of Leeds Castle, Kent, and felt the same excitement and euphoria at the launch of ‘Ellen Kent & Amphitheatre Productions’ and beginning the next stage of my career as an opera producer.

The idea of ‘Amphitheatre Productions’ was born in the office of Victoria Wallace, the Chief Executive of Leeds Castle, in December 2007. Victoria asked me to produce a major outdoor event for them – an opera of my choice. It had always been my dream to play opera at Leeds Castle so I excitedly proposed staging Bizet’s Carmen. Victoria really wanted to do this in a huge 3000 seat performance tent to guarantee no weather problems. She had seen one of my sell out productions at the Brighton Centre and felt if I could sell out there, I could sell out at Leeds Castle too! I was determined to do this. It then occurred to me I would have to direct a new version of Carmen to make it work in this tent! Having lived my teenage years in Andalucía, I thought the only way forward would be to turn the tent into a bullring arena as I would have to direct Carmen mostly in the round. This would be a huge challenge including ‘The March of the Toreadors’ and a brass band to open the opera playing the ‘paso doble’ and leading a precession into the ‘bullring’. It was from this concept I created ‘Ellen Kent & Amphitheatre Productions’ to tour Britain and Eire after the Leeds Castle performance. We would tour Carmen, La Bohème and Tosca in an amphitheatre set reminiscent of the Colosseum of Rome with a flavour of Greek and Roman theatre which I had always been fascinated with, and I could create this reality using my knowledge of Classics which I studied at Durham University. After all why not? The bullfights in Spain originated from the ancient gladiatorial battles of men in arenas scattered across the Mediterranean so Carmen would fit in admirably. Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ set against the grandeur of Rome would look magnificent and Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ could be dressed with the architecture of Paris including the Sacre Coeur. All of the operas would be set in the amphitheatre setting and played in a way influenced by the great dramatists Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. This concept would then continue for my spring 2009 tour of Aida and Turandot.

I never set out deliberately to create my ideas, instead they are born out of circumstance; I have always found this the best way. They say some of the best ideas come to you in the bath, in my case I would say they come to me in the pouring rain!