An Introduction to Angel’s Bone

The story of Angel’s Bone begins with a couple on the brink of collapse. They discover two battered angels in their garden. What begins as an act of care spirals. The couple turn to greed and choose to exploit the angels.

The story takes us through the consequences of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

The opera-theatre piece debuted in New York in 2016. Angel’s Bone was Du Yun’s second full-length opera. The New York Times called it “audacious and searing”. The opera was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2017.

Du Yun describes herself as composer, performer and advocate. Born and raised in Shanghai, she is currently based in New York.

After winning the Pulitzer, she was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2018; and in 2019 she was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Composition category.

Her works are a fusion of many different genres – orchestral, opera, chamber music, theatre, cabaret, musical theater, oral tradition, public performances, sound installation, electronics, visual arts, and noise.

Du Yun is currently Professor of Composition at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and distinguished visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Director Kip Williams is making his ENO and UK opera debut with Angel’s Bone. He’s a multi-award-winning director and writer of theatre, opera and screen.

This production continues his long-term creative collaboration with award-winning Designer, Marg Horwell.

Their recent successes include The Maids at Donmar Warehouse, The Picture of Dorian Gray on the West End and Broadway, and an upcoming production of Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo in the West End.