Opera ensemble assembles to play for Ikea shoppers

Scottish Opera was today heading to Ikea at Straiton to present its 20-minute "pop-up" performance, A Little Bit of Rigoletto.

The furniture store is just the latest stage of an unusual tour aimed at reaching new audiences which sees baritone Frank Church perform excerpts from Verdi's Rigoletto, which the company is also touring in its full format.

The first performance was due to be held in the cafe, while a second at 2pm will take place at the checkouts.

At 4pm, the performance was set to be staged at Jenners, and tomorrow it is due to go on at Edinburgh Castle and the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street.

Scottish Opera education manager Judith Riddell said that in the past it had focused its outreach efforts on more conventional, educational settings.

She said: "Because the tale of Rigoletto is full of tragedy, we really wanted to target adults. Myself and the development officer were thinking about where you get adults and where you could place opera, and she came up with the idea of Ikea as somewhere that you maybe take a day off, you want to go and buy a new wardrobe, you get young couples there.

"We've just been up in Inverness and we were in a multi-storey car park there and I have to tell you, I was a bit dubious about it. It was just right next to where you put your money in and we thought 'Oh my goodness, this might be the lowest point of our careers', but when we started, the number of people that gathered was amazing. We had the background noise of the money going in the slot, and the skaters outside, but people kept saying "Have you heard about the opera in the car park?'"

During today's show, performers won't be venturing into the stores mocked-up bedrooms or living rooms, she said: "We did look at performing among the furniture but we decided to go in the area near the cafe.

"There are logistical challenges, like getting the harp upstairs. I guess the good thing about it is if people walk into it, they might be in the middle of a conversation about screwdrivers and they just turn around and look at it - it's even quite funny for the people that are gathered there to see that happening."

Ikea marketing specialist Marie Renwick said she was looking forward to the performance: "We're always on the look out for something unusual and a bit quirky.

"People aren't really that into opera, and we thought especially with it being a quick and free performance, it would be the perfect thing to get involved with."

Tomorrow's performances are at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm at Edinburgh Castle, and 7pm at the Drill Hall. They are free and unticketed.