What happens when opera takes to the streets? When paying guests are driven around with performers, who sing and play instruments out of car windows? When huge video screens beam the action in real-time to a non-paying crowd?

Los Angeles found out what that’s like in recent months, when an experimental opera group called the Industry staged Hopscotch. But, there was no stage to speak of, as the performance weaved through the streets of the Californian city in 24 vehicles, each performing a different thread of the narrative.

The cars’ stories were streamed simultaneously to video screens at the Central Hub – a pop-up space at the Southern California Institute for Architecture in downtown LA. Members of the public gathered at the Hub – which was supported by Sennheiser and Bexel Audio Specialists – used wireless headphones to tune in.

Taking over the public space and interacting with the audience in an unusual and perhaps even confusing way is a tactic that has had some standout results. From the standard flash mob, to Punch Drunk theatre and Secret Cinema, to alternate-reality gaming – such as Jeff Hull’s Jejune Institute project in San Francisco – the audience is evermore willing to be taken by surprise and fully immersed in the story.

This is the second episode of guerrilla-style opera from the Industry opera group. Invisible Cities was staged at Union Station, the opera singers delivering their performance from in and among the busy crowds of passengers. Again, audience members used wireless headphones to discover the singers and dancers.

“After embedding opera into the everyday life of LA’s Union Station in Invisible Cities, we turned the entire city of Los Angeles into the stage for Hopscotch,” said Yuval Sharon, artistic director of the Industry.

The run of shows, which ended in late November, sold out all 3,000 charged tickets, a spokesperson from the Industry said, adding: “From anecdotal information and survey responses, the show had an overwhelming positive reaction.”