In May, we partnered with English National Opera to develop a creative response to their production Angel’s Bone; the Pulitzer Prize winning opera that the Guardian called a ‘kaleidoscopic mashup of genres.”
The opera confronted the harrowing reality of human trafficking, through the story of two angels, who fall from heaven, and land in the middle of a broken marriage. Facing a financial crisis and crumbling marriage, the couple nurse the angels to life. Care quickly turns to control when the couple realise they can exploit these spiritual beings in the pursuit of fame and fortune.
Working with artist, George Grace Gibson, a group of Recoverists who attended rehearsals then created solo works using collage, drawing and text. These reflections were then bound together into a sculptural artist book, with each page reflecting a different perspective on recovery, care, survival and transformation.
Recoverist Union member, Rachel, was part of the Recoverist group responding to Angels Bone. We asked Rachel about her experience:
The structure of Portraits of Recovery’s involvement with the English Nation Opera’s first foray to Manchester (Angel’s Bone) was perfect.
As a Recoverist Union member and artist, I had never been to the opera before and enjoyed that ENO and Portraits of Recovery provided us with many different windows into the project; from creative direction and production, to costume and score, it felt important that we had a taste of themes before seeing the show.
This gave more scope for creative interpretation of those themes in the zine workshop. I could not have enjoyed the workshop (two days) any more than I did.
The lead artist George Grace Gibson), was a fantastic facilitator (as were the ENO staff Emily and Marita and of course our Dom [Pillai]).
It was such a playful but deeply intimate space to be in with others from Recoverist Union and elsewhere.
The results. when assembled in the foyer of Factory International, were simple and beautiful, glowing on their plinths. They represented our integral involvement with the opera.
Seeing the opera as the culmination and providing feedback felt like an enriching enmeshing of all the other strands. I really enjoyed observing the innovative technical possibilities of putting on an opera (never having seen one before) especially in the space at factory international. More please!
The theme of powerlessness took a new shape for me in the Angel’s Bone collaborative project. I began to understand the notion more deeply and from different perspectives and levels. I work with many women who have been in abusive relationships and have experience of degrees of coercive control. The project gave me more of an eye on how coercive control and trafficking might power someone’s need to escape the past and therefore affect their substance abuse.
Angels Bone, by composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek, was on at Factory International’s Aviva Studios, from 12 – 16 May 2026.
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.
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.