IT began in 1990 with Pavarotti, Nessun Dorma, the BBC's World Cup theme tune and Gascoigne's tears. Football and opera were joined in union for Italia '90 and still the images abide.

Chris Monks has a habit of placing opera in new settings for his New Vic Theatre productions, and sport is a particular favourite. He has taken The Mikado on to the cricket field and now he is renovating his reinvention of Carmen as a football drama.

Bizet meets Footballers Wives next week at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, in Scarborough, where Yorkshire-born Monks presents his contemporary libretto to accompany Bizet's score.

"I like to think I inspired everyone else to do opera updates because I first did this translation five years ago," says Chris. "It was a question of finding a parallel with the bullfighting in Carmen, because at that time the bull fighter was the huge hero in Spanish society.

"By chance I was in Seville last week and bullfighters are still considered heroes, even though over here we think of them as barbarians, but the point was that we now see footballers as being almost gods, and we tend to think of foreign footballers as being more expensive and exotic."

So, here is Carmen, the Chris Monks way, where love is the goal, death is the penalty, and Carmen is the check-out girl at the local supermarket. Johnny is a shopping centre security guard, who adores her, but when he goes to prison to save her, she scores with flash footballer Tony Amor.

How does the new version differ from that of five years ago. "We've had to change the transfer fee of Tony Amor," says Chris. "Five years ago it was an outrageous £20 million; now he's valued at an outrageous £40 million."

Carmen, New Vic Theatre Company, at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 23 to October 4. Tickets: £9.50 to £15.50 on 01723 370541.

Updated: 09:33 Friday, September 19, 2003