Sheffield group's unusual setting for opera - a city bookstore!

Waterstones in Orchard Square will host six performances of a fully-staged modern-day production of Verdi’s La Traviata by the city’s only professional opera company, Opera on Location.

Director Ashley Pearson said: “I’m so excited to tell this story in such an immediate way. We’re creating something where the characters really do live along side us and it’s thrilling to bring Verdi’s brilliant music crashing into the present.”

When budding novelist Alfredo meets his muse Violetta, a call girl working the launch party for his new book, their fate is written but will their love survive?

Producers Gareth Lloyd and Kathryn Gasic said: “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Waterstones Orchard Square and to have such a brilliant setting for this production. The themes of the opera could be easily found in any bestseller, so what better place to set it than a bookshop?

“Thanks to the unique layout of Waterstones, the opera has been tailored to make use of the shop floor and grand staircase in a way that truly makes this performance ‘on location’.

“The audience will feel more up close and personal with the action than ever before, which for such a captivating and beautiful opera, is exactly what our company is about.”