Danish composer Poul Ruders's opera to a libretto by Paul Bentley based on Margaret Atwood's novel was a huge hit at its Copenhagen premiere in 2000. Now English National Opera are staging the work for the first time in English, with the same production team as in Denmark, led by the director Phyllida Lloyd.

The story is set in an ominous future in which the United States has been turned into a religious dictatorship which denies women all basic rights. Stephanie Marshall heads the cast as Offred, who, like all women who are deemed to have transgressed, is condemned to a life of slavery with the sole purpose of bearing children. Presented by Sarah Walker in conversation with the opera's creators.

Ruders The Handmaid's Tale
English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, conductor Elgar Howarth