News - Scottish Opera: Opera Highlights Tour

Scottish Opera’s hugely popular Opera Highlights is taking to the road this February, travelling across the country from the Scottish Borders to the Highlands and Islands. Watch the trailer ...

Press Release

The tour kicks off on Valentine’s Day at East Kilbride Village Theatre, exploring love in all its forms in one enchanting evening.

Marking its 60th Anniversary, Opera Highlights forms part of the Company’s commitment to bring opera to over 60 communities across all points of the compass around Scotland this Season. This beautifully crafted show travels to Crail, Garvald, Perth, Stonehaven, Boat of Garten, Invergarry, Wick, Orkney, Ullapool, Torridon, Skye, Oban, Campbeltown, Islay, Gretna, Hawick and Ayr.

Director Emma Jenkins and designer Janis Hart bring verve and creativity to this year’s original piano-accompanied production. The cast includes Scottish Opera 2022/23 Emerging Artist Colin Murray, alongside Annie Reilly who both recently performed in the five-star production of Ainadamar, as well as Andrew Henley (Thérèse 2022) and Holly Teague, led from the piano by James Longford. Join the cast as they transport to another world, where anything is possible.

The production also features the world premiere of a new piece by Scottish Opera 2021/22 Emerging Artist and composer Toby Hession, with libretto by Emma Jenkins. Enitled ‘Told By An Idiot’ it is a modern and humorous re-working of Macbeth.

Scottish Opera’s Head of Music Derek Clark, introduces audiences to a treasure trove of work with a playlist from much-loved opera’s including Mozart’s The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Verdi’s Macbeth and Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers alongside music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Gounod and a composition written by Mendelssohn when he was just 12 years old.

Director Emma Jenkins said, ‘Four young singers in search of an identity find themselves, like Alice in Wonderland or the children of Narnia, propelled along an operatic rollercoaster of love and loss, devotion and desire, jealousy and jubilation. The overriding theme of the Opera Highlights is LOVE. Our singers put on and take off various roles as if possessed by the force of love in a fast-paced performance that celebrates not only the voice, but also ensemble work and physical theatre. All this against the backdrop of Janis Hart's stunning design which combines a retro 70s feel with an anarchic theatrical space in which one feels that anything could happen!’

Scottish Opera’s Head of Music, Derek Clark added, ‘The programme is the usual mixture of music from familiar operas and the less well-known, so we are confident that there will be something for everyone to enjoy, whether you are an experienced opera goer, or coming to see us for the first time.’

Opera Highlights is supported by The Friends of Scottish Opera and JTH Charitable Trust. The production will be touring from 14 February to 25 March 2023. Tickets are on sale at www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/opera-highlights-202223/


Cast

Soprano Holy Teague
Mezzo Soprano Annie Reilly
Tenor Andrew Henley
Baritone Colin Murray*
Pianist James Longford

*Scottish Opera 22/23 Emerging Artist


Creative team

Director Emma Jenkins
Designer Janis Hart
Assistant Director Jim Osman


Performance diary

Tuesday 14 February, East Kilbride Village Theatre
Thursday 16 February, Crail Community Hall
Saturday 18 February, Garvald Village Hall
Tuesday 21 February, Perth Theatre Joan Knight Studio
Thursday 23 February, Stonehaven Town Hall
Saturday 25 February, Boat of Garten Community Hall
Tuesday 28 February, Invergarry Community Centre
Thursday 2 March, Assembly Rooms, Wick
Saturday 4 March, Orkney Theatre, Kirkwall
Tuesday 7 March, Macphail Centre, Ullapool
Thursday 9 March, Loch Torridon Community Centre, Torridon
Saturday 11 March, Skye Gathering Hall
Tuesday 14 March, The Rockfield Centre, Oban
Thursday 16 March, Victoria Hall, Campbeltown
Saturday 18 March, Bowmore Hall, Islay
Tuesday 21 March, Stormont Hall, Gretna
Thursday 23 March, Tower Mill, Hawick
Saturday 25 March, Gaiety Theatre, Ayr

Image - Osian Wyn Bowen, Shakira Tsindos, Christopher Nairne and Zoe Drummond in Opera Highlights Dress Rehearsal. Scottish Opera 2022. Credit  Fraser Band.