Three shows take opera to a new audience

Scottish Opera’s Pop-up Opera is back on the road this month with three brilliant shows for audiences of all ages.

They are A Little Bit of HMS Pinafore, A Little Bit of Eugene Onegin and Be A Sport, Spike!, which has been commissioned by Festival 2018, the cultural programme of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships.

Performed in Scottish Opera’s fully accessible travelling opera house – a specially adapted trailer designed to look like a miniature Theatre Royal Glasgow – the 25-minute shows are brought to life by a storyteller, singers, instrumentalists and a series of colourful illustrations.

The first performances take place on May 25 at Perth Festival of the Arts, before the tour travels to the Outer and Inner Hebrides visiting Barra, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Isle of Lewis, Isle of Harris, Ullapool and Isle of Skye as well as Perth’s Solas Festival, Haddington Show and Callander Summerfest.

This year, there will be extra performances in Glasgow and other areas hosting sport across Scotland as part of the cultural festival taking place alongside the Glasgow 2018 European Championships. There are also schools performances throughout the Hebrides.

One of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular comic operas, HMS Pinafore, has been whittled down by Scottish Opera’s Head of Music Derek Clark to create A Little Bit of HMS Pinafore.

Aboard the ship HMS Pinafore, Josephine, the captain’s daughter, is in love with one of the crew and her father doesn’t approve. Overturning social order and parental wishes, the couple plans to elope, but a surprise confession soon leaves everything in doubt.

Complementing Scottish Opera’s mainstage production of Eugene Onegin which is on tour in Scotland and Belfast until the end of June is A Little Bit of Eugene Onegin. Once again arranged by Derek Clark, it offers highlights from Tchaikovsky’s classic opera, a sweeping tale of unrequited love between an arrogant young man and a lovesick girl, based on Pushkin’s literary masterpiece.

Children arriving at the Pop-up Opera travelling opera house last summer (Photo: James Glossop)

With music by Karen MacIver and words by Ross Stenhouse, Be A Sport, Spike! is for children aged four to seven. Mike ‘The Spike’ McTavish is the greatest sportsman the world has ever seen. There’s no-one who can run faster, jump higher or swim further than mega-fit Spike. But there is one thing that Spike can’t do – sing! Audiences will join Spike and his friends as he starts to exercise those vocal cords, and finds out that a little perseverance can go a long way. Be A Sport, Spike! was commissioned for Festival 2018, the cultural programme surrounding the city’s hosting of the first ever European Championships in August.

Scottish Opera’s director of outreach and education, Jane Davidson said: ‘In 2018, Scottish Opera continues to bring its unique brand of miniature opera to audiences across Scotland, this year focusing on island communities both large and small – from the Isle of Barra in the south to Stornoway, Isle of Lewis in the north.

‘There’s something for everyone in the shows on offer which are, as ever, a mixture of comedy and drama; from pinafores to pistols at dawn and a brand new piece for children aged four to seven years and their families – Be A Sport Spike!’

Performances will be held at:

Perth Festival of the Arts, Perth Concert Hall, Sat 26 May: 12, 2 and 3pm. Castlebay School, Isle of Barra, Wed 30 & Thu 31 May: 7pm. Daliburgh Primary, South Uist, Fri 1 Jun: 7pm. Iochdar Hall, South Uist, Sat 2 Jun: 2, 3 and 5pm. Balivanich Primary, Benbecula, Mon 4 Jun: 7pm. North Uist Primary School, North Uist, Tue 5 Jun: 7pm. Tolsta Primary, Isle of Lewis, Thu 7 Jun: 4pm. Uig Primary, Isle of Lewis Fri 8 Jun: 4pm. Tong Community Centre, Isle of Lewis, Sat 9 Jun: 10am. Museum nan Eilean, Lews Castle, Isle of Lewis; Sat 9 Jun: 2pm. North Lochs Community Centre, Isle of Lewis, Sat 9 Jun: 6pm Leverhulme Memorial School, Isle of Lewis, Wed 13 Jun: 4pm. Macphail Centre, Ullapool, Fri 15 Jun, 6pm. Armadale Castle, Isle of Skye, Mon 18 Jun: 2, 5 and 7.30pm. Sligachan Hotel, Isle of Skye, Tue 19 Jun: 2, 5 and 7.30pm. Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye Wed 20 Jun: 1 nd 4pm. Solas Festival, Perth. Sat 23 and Sun 24 Jun: 11am, 1 and 4pm. Haddington Show, East Fortune, Sat 30 Jun: 11.30am, 1 and 2.30pm. Callander SummerFest, Sat 28 Jul 12, 1.30, 2.30pm. Festival 2018 Thu 2 – Sun 19 Aug (ex. 6, 13 and 14 Aug) – Glasgow. Wed 15 – Sun 26 Aug – areas across Scotland hosting sport.