Opera now has the potential to reach far more people than ever before; apart from streaming and live cinema events, performances take place in a huge variety of informal and unusual venues including railway station halls, shopping centres, parks, even on the streets.

Mid Wales Opera’s autumn tour aims to target rural village halls and community centres throughout Wales with performances designed to capture audiences who have less opportunity and need a little more encouragement to try out the artform.  ‘Small-Stages’ performances, directed and designed by Artistic Director Richard Studer, include refreshments and the opportunity for informal discussion and chat with the performers.

The opera featured in this pilot tour is the one-act comedy The Bear (A Joke in One Act) by William Walton which celebrates its 50th Birthday in 2017.  MWO’s Music Director Jonathan Lyness has devised a new English performing edition for three singers and five musicians.  Composed in 1967 and based on Anton Chekhov’s play of the same name, The Bear is the story of the widow Mme Popova, whose constant mourning is interrupted by the arrival of the rough-hewn debt collector Smirnov (the “bear” of the title).  Passions run high and their sparring culminates in a duel – and an unexpected romance.

The second part of the evening is Tatyana’s Party Pieces, extracts from Russian operas in a light hearted take on the birthday party scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin - a taster of the company’s main stage tour of the opera in the spring.

Mid Wales Opera’s new production of Walton’s The Bear opens at Llandinam Village Hall on 2 November and continues in village halls, community centres, assembly rooms and tiny theatres throughout Wales until early December.