Runtime 90min + a 20min interval
Witness the magic of Mantawoman – a mesmerising yangqin player, singer-songwriter, and performer from San Francisco – in YANG QUEEN, a psychedelic musical about healing from heartbreak.
Praised by Yo-Yo Ma as "courageous, passionate, truth-seeking," Mantawoman rose to prominence as one of the world's most creative yangqin players. The yangqin (pronounced "yahng-cheen") is a Chinese percussive string instrument with 144 steel strings that the player strikes with bamboo mallets, emitting bright, iridescent tones. The yangqin takes center stage in this sonic adventure, serving as the interface through which Mantawoman teleports us across the seascape of the human heart.
Crystallizing twenty years of performance experience into one kaleidoscopic show, this musical extravaganza dazzles with epic instrumentals, romantic songs, comedic lip-syncs, and trippy visuals.
In two acts across ninety minutes, we see Mantawoman reckon with change. Propelled by an inner voice, Mantawoman voyages from fracture to integration, grief to ecstasy, ultimately learning the importance of living one's truth. Along the way, Mantawoman will invite us to sing along and reflect on our own odysseys of authentic transformation.
YANG QUEEN was developed in collaboration with Emma Henry Wolf, Tangram, LSO St Luke's and the Southbank Centre Studio residency in 2023, with support from the Jerwood New Work Fund.
ABOUT MANTAWOMAN
Mantawoman 漫她我梦 (b. 1994) is a musician, singer-songwriter and performer from San Francisco. They specialise in yangqin 扬琴, a Chinese percussive string instrument.
Mantawoman treats the yangqin as an interface for exploring magical dimensions of queer and transcultural experience. They are interested in plurality and the nature of change. Their conceptual, genre-fluid performances blend Chinese music, new commissions, original songs and improvisation, with splashes of theatre and video art.
Mantawoman (b. Reylon Yount) is the first yangqin player to feature on a Grammy Award-winning album (Sing Me Home, 2016) and the first person from North America to compete professionally in an international yangqin competition (silver prize, Baotou 2014). An avid recording artist, they feature on the soundtracks of Marvel's Shang Chi, Netflix's 1899, and the Sundance Award-winning animated short, Reneepoptosis. Their playing has garnered millions of views online.
Mantawoman has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Caroline Polachek, Alex Ho, Rhiannon Giddens, Vân-Ánh Võ, Christopher Myers, Johnny Gandelsman, and Yo-Yo Ma.
ACCESSIBILITY
Sadly, The Divine is currently not fully accessible.
The cabaret and club space are in the basement of the venue. There are 17 wide steps with slip resistant treads down to the space with sturdy handrails either side.
The toilets are in the basement and are not accessible for wheelchair users.
If you need further information, please refer to The Divine ‘About’ page on the website.
The Divine Accessibility Info & FAQs