TINY opera houses come no smaller than the one modified from a trailer bought on eBay and currently parked beside a house near Chepstow Castle.

It's officially the smallest in the world and belongs to opera singers Karl Daymond and his colleague Pippa Longworth, who regard a full house “indoors” as a dozen punters seated comfortably.

It also functions as a stage for much bigger, al fresco audiences, and it comes complete with a kitchen and a tow bar. Inside, it’s done out with a proscenium arch, lights, electrics and seating.

The tow bar came in useful earlier this year at the Swansea show, when an Army tank on site for a Services display was borrowed to pull it out of a muddy field.

Now, a Victorian-style Christmas show by Operaplayhouse, the company run by Karl and Pippa, has been named by the Arts Council of Wales as one of its Recommended Nights Out.

And the company will be joined by other singers next February to give a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute at a festival in Kenya.

“There is an opera house in New York that calls itself the smallest but it isn’t mobile,” says Karl. “Also, it seats 48 and we can manage twelve!”

The trailer-cum-theatre is the travelling part of the busy opera group Karl and Pippa run aside from pursuing singing careers which have taken them to the top in Britain and abroad. It is now parked for the winter in Karl’s garden in Chepstow.

“We were looking for a horse lorry and then we thought a trailer would be cheaper to run,” he says. “It’s a big thing to pull and I’ve got better and better at reversing down country lanes.”

What they found on eBay was a former exhibition trailer costing £2,000. They converted it themselves, looking for things in skips or 'stealing' bits and pieces from friends, so it cost them very little. Keith Evans, an amateur singer who performs with the company’s chorus, helps with the maintenance.

Pippa says that to be close to your audience creates magical moments. No performance is ever the same and they are moving, funny and extraordinary.

“We’ve done huge festivals and at a rock one in London we did two shows an hour every hour all day,” Karl says. “We also give performances on it because the side opens out as a mobile stage. So we’ve performed to thousands of people since we’ve been going.”

There are no roadies involved in the logistics. Karl and Pippa drive the towing Landrover, sing and switch off the lights on and off.

“We’ve had some interesting experiences on the road, most involving drivers trying to overtake,” Karl says. “We are looking for a sign to put on the back - Long Vehicle or Showman’s Special, something like that.

“We had to get pulled out of a muddy field by the Army, who were next door to us at Swansea Show. It poured down. Everyone was stuck and the tank was the only thing that could move.”

There’s a missionary spirit about the venture, because it’s small scale and plays venues miles away from opera territory.

“We joke that our activities are about taking opera to people who don’t want it,” Karl says. “There’s some truth in this, because audiences may think they don’t want it but then come along and enjoy it.”

'Schools feel benefit

Pippa, who is based in East Sussex, says the venture is enormous fun and feeds into all hers and Karl’s professional performances in the trailer as well as other places.

“I giggled when we found ourselves singing in the little opera house to an audience made up of the artistic directors of English National Opera and Glyndebourne and the former artistic director of the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival,” she says.

The company devise specialised opera programmes as well as educational work in schools.

“We take the it all very seriously, we warm up and every audience gets the best performance we can give” Karl says.

While the opera house remains hibernating for the winter, you can catch the company’s Christmas in the Parlour at the Chepstow Drill Hall on December 5 and other Gwent venues. For more, go to www.operaplayhouse.com. Or phone Pippa on 07940 510211 (pippab@gotadsl.co.uk) and Karl on 07968 950221 (karldaymond@talktalk.net)