Scottish Opera brings pop-up opera to communities and schools across Scotland this summer

Scottish Opera’s much-loved Pop-up Opera tours to audiences all over the country from 31 May, with performances of Gilbert & Sullivan’s celebrated comic operas A Little Bit of The Gondoliers and A Little Bit of The Pirates of Penzance, and children’s opera, Puffy MacPuffer and the Crabbit Canals. 

The Company has joined forces with Scottish Canals to bring public Pop-up performances to the Union Canal, Edinburgh, The Falkirk Wheel, Caledonian Canal Centre in Fort Augustus, The Egg Shed at Crinan Canal, on board a barge in partnership with Forth & Clyde Canal Society, and Stockingfield Bridge in Glasgow, in partnership with North United Communities.  

There will be additional performances in communities at Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival in Sanquhar, Moniaive, Musselburgh, Cupar, Charlestown, Milngavie, Coatbridge (at Monkland Canal), Lochcarron, Cruden Bay, Kirriemuir, Ayr and East Kilbride.

There will also be free schools performances in Dumfries & Galloway, West Lothian, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, Strathcarron, Fort Augustus, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeenshire. 

In addition, Scottish Opera will be offering illustration workshops to local primary schools in some venues so they can meet and draw the characters from Puffy MacPuffer & the Crabbit Canals before coming along to see the show.

Scottish Opera’s productions use ten specially created illustrations to help the performers — storytellers Allan Dunn and Katie Barnett, along with singers Jessica Leary, Holly Teague, Colin Murray and Paul Grant, cellist Andrew Drummond Huggan and guitarists Sasha Savaloni and Luke Anderson — present the story. 

Scottish Opera’s Director of Outreach & Education, Jane Davidson MBE said: ‘This year we are once again delighted to bring our miniature musical tales to locations across the country. 

‘Gilbert & Sullivan’s topsy-turvy nautical adventures will be navigating the waterways from Penzance to Venice, and we will be stopping at some of Scotland’s most beautiful canalside spots.’

Scottish Canals CEO John Paterson said: ‘We are delighted to be able to bring opera to our canalside locations this summer.

‘Partnering with Scottish Opera allows us to both deliver a truly unique, entertaining, and accessible experience for all.

‘I would encourage everyone to get out and about this summer, and enjoy some canal magic as our canal corridors become the perfect stage for these performances.’

Cleverly re-scored by Scottish Opera’s former Head of Music, Derek Clark, in A Little Bit of The Pirates of Penzance, a young man bound by an overactive sense of duty, a soft-hearted pirate king with a hopeless band of rogues at his side, a beautiful young girl, a very modern major-general and an ineffectual bevy of policemen add to a plot hinging on the technicalities of having a birthday on the 29th of February. What could possibly go wrong? 

A Little Bit of The Gondoliers satirises the ruling classes and their position within society, with the tale of two happy-go-lucky gondoliers who discover that one of them is the heir to the throne of a distant kingdom. In a show packed full of fun, the gondoliers set off to rule with an idealistic – if somewhat chaotic – plan.

Created specifically for five to eight year olds, with music and words by Marion Christie, Puffy MacPuffer & The Crabbit Canals is a tale of the five waterways that link Scotland from the North Sea to the Atlantic. Like most families, each one is different: Caledonian – the longest; Crinan – the most beautiful; hard-working Monkland; Union – the fastest; wise old Forth & Clyde. Each one thinks they’re the best. Can an ordinary little puffer boat make them think again? 

These 30-minute shows take opera out of the theatre into unexpected places, and are ideal for anyone new to the artform. 

Pop-up Opera was originally inspired by the ancient Japanese art of Kamishibai (which roughly translates as ‘paper story’), a form of entertainment where itinerant storytellers travelled between small communities, telling traditional folk tales using a set of small paintings to accompany the narrative. 

Pop-up Opera is supported by Friends of Scottish Opera. 

Tickets are on sale now at www.scottishopera.org.uk/pop-up-opera-2025/

www.scottishopera.org.uk 

You can follow Scottish Opera on Bluesky, Facebook, Tik-Tok, You Tube and Instagram @ScottishOpera 

Performance Diary:

Public performances

• A' the Airts, Sanquhar  31 May, 1pm & 3pm 
• Glencairn Memorial Institute, Moniaive 1 June, 1pm & 3pm 
• North Esk Parish Church, Musselburgh 5 June, 7pm (double bill performance) 
• Cupar Corn Exchange 6 June, 7pm (double bill performance) 
• Queen’s Hall, Charlestown, Dunfermline  7 June, 1pm & 3pm 
• Lochrin Basin, Edinburgh (Union Canal) 8 June, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances) 
• Milngavie Town Hall 13 June, 2pm & 4pm 
• Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Coatbridge (Monklands Canal) 14 June, 3pm (free performance), 7pm (ticketed double bill) 
• The Falkirk Wheel 15 June, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances) 
• The Lochcarron Centre, Strathcarron 18 June, 7pm (double bill performance) 
• Caledonian Canal Centre, Fort Augustus 20 June, 7pm (double bill performance) 
• The Egg Shed, Lochgilphead (Crinan Canal) 22 June, 12pm, 1.30pm & 4pm (plus illustration workshop at 11am) 
• Port Errol Public Hall, Cruden Bay 28 June, 2pm & 4pm
• Kirriemuir Town Hall 29 June, 2pm & 4pm 
• The Cutty Sark Centre, Ayr 2 July, 12pm, 1.30pm & 4pm (plus illustration workshop at The Grain Exchange at 11am) 
• Forth & Clyde Canal Society 3 July, 1pm & 3pm, Kirkintilloch Southbank Marina to Hillhead Basin (30 minute circuit) 
• Forth & Clyde Canal Society 4 July 1pm & 3pm, Glasgow Canal House, Applecross Street to Firhill Basin (30 minute circuit) 
• Stockingfield Bridge, near Brassey Street, Glasgow 5 July, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances) 
• East Kilbride Arts Centre 6 July, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances)