The plot starts with the crash landing of two angels into the garden of feuding couple, Mr and Mrs X.E., who start with the noble objective of rescuing and looking after them, but this rapidly turns into pure exploitation. The angels are shorn of their feathers to stop them flying away and they are subjected to further horrifying treatment, from slavery to prostitutionand sexual humiliation, all organised by Mrs X.E. with her husband a mildly reluctant accomplice.
The unremitting violence and exploitation make this difficult to watch, but in the current climate of greed and sex trafficking, it forces us to think about unpleasant things that we always disapprove of but normally try to ignore. The effect is magnified, quite literally, by director Kip Williams who combines the action on stage with a huge projection created by a team of camera operatives filming everything that is happening. This has the double effect of distancing us from the horrors that are going on, while also emphasising their enormity – which effectively mimics the way we receive news coverage of real-life horrors.
Du Yun, Royce Vavrek and Kip Williams have created something quite unlike any other opera, and the ENO have put together a magnificent cast to perform it. The music covers many genres, from opera to cabaret and pop, but is always brittle, often shriekingly so, and designed to fit whatever we are seeing. Scottish tenor Matthew McKinney and Swedish singer Mariam Wallentin brilliantly portray the anguish of the angels, while British baritone Rodney Earl Clarke and mezzo-soprano Allison Cook are both convincing as Mr and Mrs X.E. Quite apart from having a voice that can master Du Yuns difficult music, Clarke is convincing as the hen-pecked husband, willing to go along with his wife’s wicked schemes, while Cook is even better as the true villain.
With the ENO Orchestra on superb form under Swiss conductor Baldur Brönnimann, this all added up to an experience few of us will ever forget. I was hugely impressed by it, but cannot really say that I enjoyed it. I doubt that I have ever seen an audience looking so shattered at the end of an opera. Angel’s Bone lasts for only 80 minutes and has no interval but perhaps it should be prefaced by a warning: unsuitable for those of delicate disposition. We all know that power corrupts, but as this shows, greed can do that just as effectively.
Angel’s Bone continues at the Coliseum until October 31. For details and tickets, see eno.org or phone 020 7845 9300
