News - Scottish Opera’s Pop-up Opera

Scottish Opera’s Pop-up Opera is back on the road from May 2018...

Press Release

Three brilliant shows for audiences of all ages: A Little Bit of HMS Pinafore, A Little Bit of Eugene Onegin and Be A Sport, Spike! will be 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 25th 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.

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! ’

Pop-up Opera is supported by Festival 2018.

Image - Scottish Opera


Performance Information

For booking details and further information, please contact individual venues.

Perth Festival of the Arts, Perth Concert Hall

Fri 25 May: 12, 2 & 3pm
Sat 26 May: 12, 2 & 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 & 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

Mon18 Jun: 2, 5 & 7.30pm

Sligachan Hotel, Isle of Skye

Tue 19 Jun: 2, 5 & 7.30pm

Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye

Wed 20 Jun: 1 & 4pm

Solas Festival, Perth

Sat 23 & Sun 24 Jun: 11am, 1 & 4pm

Haddington Show, East Fortune

Sat 30 Jun: 11.30am, 1 & 2.30pm

Callander SummerFest

Sat 28 Jul 12, 1.30, 2.30pm

Festival 2018

Thu 2 – Sun 19 Aug (ex. 6, 13 & 14 Aug) - Glasgow
Wed 15 – Sun 26 Aug – areas across Scotland hosting sport