
A dancer in a dress rehearsal at the Theater Kontra-Punk in D�sseldorf. The theatre is inside a modern business centre. Picture by Andre Loessel
St Kilda - A European Opera - will be performed simultaneously at six venues in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Scotland. They include a studio in the Outer Hebrides and a futuristic business centre in D�sseldorf.
There is a plan to link each of the venues to St Kilda by satellite so images from the islands can be beamed live each night.
The opera will be performed on Friday and Saturday.
HALLSTATT, AUSTRIA
The picturesque town is an important archaeological site and has Unesco World Heritage status.
Its name has been given to an Iron Age culture that was dominant in central and western Europe.
According to Unesco, the Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut alpine region is "an outstanding example of a natural landscape of great beauty and scientific interest".
MONS, BELGIUM
There were worries at one stage that the new Th��tre le Man�ge in Mons would not be completed in time for the opera.
It has been finished and the brand new theatre will host the Belgian performance as planned.
The historic city is the capital of the province of Hainaut and was the scene of some of the first fighting of World War I.
VALENCIENNES, FRANCE
The French performance will take place in the Le Ph�nix in Valenciennes.
It is a large theatre that can hold more than 1,000 people.
Historically, Valenciennes is renowned for its lace.
DUSSELDORF, GERMANY
The Theater Kontra-Punkt is in a business centre in D�sseldorf.
Dress rehearsals for the German version saw performers clothed in white and dangling from ropes from the centre's ceiling.
People were also caused to pause when a singer burst into song in Gaelic.
STUDIO ALBA, LEWIS
Studio Alba in Stornoway is where Proiseact Nan Ealan, the Gaelic Arts Agency, has been working on the project.
It is also the venue for the Scottish stage of the opera.
The agency has described the opera as stories of love and death charting the islands' history.
ST KILDA
Organisers intend to beam live images of St Kilda to the other five venues to be used during their performances.
The last of the residents of the remote island archipelago left in 1930.
St Kilda is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is considered an important sea bird habitat.