SF Guerrilla Opera, or The San Francisco Guerrilla Opera Company, was founded by writers Tom Comitta and Janey Smith in March 2011.  The name "guerrilla opera" was coined by writer Ryan Funk after the group's first event in which 40+ people were invited to read aloud for 40 minutes from books found in Adobe Bookstore, SF.  15 minutes into the event some readers started to sing; by 30 minutes everyone was singing from Shakespeare, cook books, comic books, etc.  When we staged the same event in Borders Bookstore, Union Square, SF without the store's permission, it was clear the form was going "guerrilla".

The project has assumed a variety of organizational structures, from Comitta and Smith's initial duo to a later collective effort including writers Samantha Boudrot, Ashley Brim, and Daniel Ishofsky.  In preparation for every opera, we invite friends through social media, email, and word of mouth. All operas are composed with the intention of challenging spectatorship by composing open, participatory scores that celebrate all skill levels.  In many operas, strangers who hadn't received a formal invitation joined along. Here’s a list of our performed operas to date.