ANGELS BONE

About the show

Angel’s Bone is a Pulitzer prize-winning opera – theatre work composed by Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek. Care becomes contempt and love becomes loathing in this dark, unsettling parable. Breaking with operatic tradition, Angel’s Bone fuses multiple musical genres, spoken word and immersive staging in an uncompromising tale of modern slavery and human trafficking. The Chinese-American composer, performance artist and activist won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Angel’s Bone, which is her second opera. In 2019, she was nominated for a Grammy Award. An ENO production in collaboration with Factory International and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The chorus will be performed by Manchester-based ensemble, Kantos Chamber Choir with the Orchestra of ENO. Mr and Mrs X.E, are a desperate couple facing financial crisis and a crumbling marriage and they long for a better life. When they discover the two bruised and battered angels in their garden, they bring them inside to nurse them back to life. Care quickly turns to control. The couple seize the opportunity to exploit the spiritual beings in pursuit of fame and fortune. Brutally clipping the angels’ wings to exploit this heavenly gift, the celestial beings are subjected to degrading, inhumane practices.