WNO brings virtual reality opera to Liverpool

The popular Welsh National Opera is making its annual visit to the Liverpool Empire this week – and it has a special virtual reality treat for tech-savvy theatregoers.

Along with Eugene Onegin and Die Fledermaus at the Lime Street theatre, the WNO is also bringing Magic Butterfly to the Albert Dock.

The free attraction invites visitors to step inside the world of two classic operas with re-imagined scenes from Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly – all within a shipping container on the Hartley Quay next to Tate Liverpool.

Magic Butterfly allows visitors to use Google Daydream technology – a mobile VR platform - to engage with the re-imagined world around them through motion capture, animation, music and technology. It’s the first time an opera company has used VR in this way to re-imagine operatic scenes and create an immersive experience using responsive animation and sound.

The installation will be at the Albert Dock from November 8-12 and will be open from 10am to 12.30pm and 2.30-5pm each day.

Meanwhile Eugene Onegin is being staged at the Empire on November 9 and Die Fledermaus from November 10-11. Tickets from the website HERE