THE dark tale of a scholar who makes a pact with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures, is being performed at The Chapel Nightclub at the end of this month.

The opera Faust by Winterbourne Opera will run from Tuesday, July 28 to Saturday, August 1 and continues the company's mission to perform opera in unusual settings with the cattle market and a ballroom having been previous locations.

Director Ben Occhipinti said: "We felt Faust would work perfectly in the Victorian gothic chapel.

"It's all about heaven and hell and this felt like a space where you could bring opera to life and also be one that audiences in Salisbury might not have come into to watch opera.

"By doing it in English and with up-and-coming singers in a new environment, we are also hoping it will attract a new audience of people that will enjoy, appreciate and preserve it for another generation.

"When performed in an opera house or a theatre, people might not feel they can approach it but opera was created for the people and it's lost that slightly."

Involving a cast of more than 30 singers (seven professional singers and a community chorus) and an orchestra of 11, the production is a contemporary version but uses the original English translation.

Occhipinti says audiences will also have the chance to sit in the upper gallery of the chapel which will be opened up with singers using all available space from the top of the bar to the organ.

"Rather than building a set which then gets wheeled into your theatre, we are using this very different space and you tell the story in that way," he said.

"I hope when people walk into this gothic chapel, it might feel slightly alien to them so there is a real sense of the unexpected.

"It's quite a dark opera with comic elements - people will recognise lots of the music - the Jewel Song is one of the most performed arias and the Soldiers' Chorus is a really famous march.

"The character of Mephistopheles the devil is fun - at its core, it's about humanity and about how we cope with misfortunes of life but within the darkness there is some real beauty.

Winterbourne Opera is made up of young professional singers selected from auditions in London who spend three weeks with the company gaining experience in roles that would not yet be available to them in major opera houses.

Gounod's dramatic Faust is being performed at 7.30pm with tickets £25 and £20 from Salisbury Playhouse on 01722 320333 or salisburyplayhouse.com