Pop Up Opera: Barber of Seville at the Minerva

I always love it when on an evening out, something that you really did not expect happens, jumps out and bites you. Steve and I had booked tickets for this one off performance evening at the Minerva Theatre on Chichester. We both love Opera but it has to be said that neither of us knew anything about the Pop Up Opera Company. We were blown completely away with our first encounter with this fine young company.

The other evening over dinner, my daughter Jacqueline mentioned that she would like to go to an opera even if only once, simply because she never had. Had I known what was in store I would have bought an extra ticket for this because it would be an ideal first opera even though it was very well received by the audience who seemed to be regular enough looking opera goers.

There were a number of surprises, though the fact that the Minerva is a small theatre was not one of them; it is in fact my favourite theatre. There are only rows A-G; just seven rows. I very often book seats in row G as I had for the show last night. You can hang your coat on the back of the seat and it will disturb nobody. The seats I had managed to get were at the top of the first corridor on the left as you enter and the great thing about them is that there is nothing but the steps on the corridor in front of those seats; a completely clear view. Excellent.


There was nothing in the way of scenery and certainly not curtains. The stage is the space at the bottom of the seven rows of seats that curve around the stage area. The clothes were a step removed from the title ‘Costumes’. No Pomp, no grandeur no pretence of being a posh opera company. The name they work under could not be more perfect since as I found out today in my after the fact research, that they do indeed Pop Up in all sorts of unexpected places; Barns, pubs café’s and back rooms and even on The Archers.

None the less the performance we had gone the see was Rossini’s Barber of Seville which they performed in the original language which is of course Italian. There are screens behind the singers that displayed the text in English though not perhaps quite as accurately as has been done before in many opera house where they do show the translation but here with a large dose of humour.

It was a full blown farce and so why on earth was I taken by surprise when the gun that had appeared was actually loaded….. with water. Yes a water pistol battle and much running around, climbing over the audience who with a little practice became quite good at catching items of clothing that were thrown about with some exuberance.

This was however proper opera, sung by talented artists who gave a delightful interpretation of this traditional opera. There was a fresh breeze of talent and pleasure that wafted through the little Minerva last night. Quite delightful.

Perfect for a first visit to an Opera and perfect for us old opera buffs too. Everybody lapped it up greedily but were left still wanting more. Pop Up Opera are both conventional and unconventional in the approach. Look out for them in the future; we certainly shall.