English National Opera's UK staging of Du Yun's Pulitzer Prize-winning opera-theatre work about modern slavery and human trafficking.
English National Opera brings Angel's Bone to the London Coliseum this October, with six performances running from the 17th to the 31st. It's the work's first London staging, following a UK premiere at Aviva Studios in Manchester with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Angel's Bone is a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera-theatre piece by Chinese-American composer, performance artist and activist Du Yun, with a libretto by Royce the Vavrek. It took home the 2017 Pulitzer and earned a Grammy nomination in 2019. The story is a dark, unsettling parable of modern slavery and human trafficking: a couple, Mr and Mrs X.E., find two wounded angels in their garden, and their rescue turns into greed and exploitation. It breaks with operatic tradition, fusing chamber music, cabaret, electronica and punk with spoken word, and it's sung in English with surtitles.
The production is directed by Kip Williams, marking his ENO and UK opera debut, with immersive staging from the creative team. Mezzo-soprano Allison Cook plays Mrs X.E. and baritone Rodney Earl Clarke plays Mr X.E., with Mariam Wallentin as the Girl Angel and tenor Matthew McKinney as the Boy Angel. Countertenor Keith Pun takes the Male Soprano role, and the Orchestra of ENO is joined by the Kantos Chamber Choir as guest ensemble. Baldur Brönnimann conducts.
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It runs for 1 hour 25 minutes with no interval, and there's age guidance of 18+. Tickets start from £15 including fees, with an ENO Under 35s discount for ages 21-34 and free entry for Under 21s. The six performances fall on 17, 22, 23, 29 and 31 October, with a matinee on the 31st.
