About Us

About Us

Icon is an award-winning theatre and participatory arts charity. We push the boundaries of where theatre happens, who it is for and how it can help people and places to grow.

Communities and young people collaborating with professional artists in active and equal partnership is at the heart of everything we do, be that making large-scale, outdoor and promenade theatre productions; running our award-winning young people’s programme, or our ongoing participatory theatre programmes in schools, drop-in centres and criminal justice settings. Icon supports artist development across the theatre sector with a generation of professional artists who are highly skilled in working with local communities.

Each year, we are co-commissioned with other locally based arts companies to create a much-loved interactive Christmas show for early years children that is performed at The Brook Theatre in Chatham.

In 2022, we celebrated our twentieth anniversary and were selected to join Arts Council England’s National Portfolio alongside some of the country’s leading arts organisations.

Our Mission

Icon’s mission is to bring local communities and world-class professional artists together to collaborate in equal partnership on theatre projects and productions. Through involvement in our work, participants gain personal, social, professional and creative skills that lead to education, employment and improved wellbeing.

Icon stages theatre that tells important local stories with national relevance. By telling stories that matter to those involved and in surprising ways we develop, diversify and delight our audiences.

Icon supports artist development across the theatre sector with a generation of professional artists who are highly skilled in working with local communities.

Icon's Incubator Programme

Icon’s Incubator programme provides work experience, careers advice and mentoring, backstage and technical training, and an Assistant Director Placement programme, nurturing the next generation of set, lighting and sound designers, directors, producers, administrators, technicians and backstage crew.

Who We Work With

All of Icon’s work is made in partnership with highly skilled freelance artists and arts organisations, recent collaborations include projection artists Novak (Lumiere), spoken word artist Brenda Birungi, composer Darren Clark (Lyric Hammersmith, National Theatre), designer Sarah Booth (Albany, The Egg, Liverpool Unity), visual artist and Queen’s Award winner Wendy Daws (Turner Contemporary), music director Tania Holland Williams (Garsington, Byre Opera), choreographer Valentina Golfieri (Arthur Pita, Protein Dance, Clod Ensemble), IdeasTest, Square Pegs Arts, D-Live, Medway African and Caribbean Association and Dante or Die.