Angel's Bone Videos & Images
Angel’s Bone Synopsis
A modest suburban home.
Mr and Mrs X.E., a couple overwhelmed by financial ruin and a struggling marriage, are desperate for a way to turn their lives around. Their hope is rekindled when they find two battered and fragile angels collapsed in their garden. Stunned by this miraculous discovery, the X.E.s bring the heavenly beings into their home, initially caring for them with what seems like genuine compassion.
However, this initial act of kindness quickly becomes tainted by greed and ambition. The angels, seen as an extraordinary opportunity for fame and fortune, spark dangerous ideas in the couple’s minds. Dreaming of a chance to transform their lives, they quietly begin to shift from caregivers to captors, with their ambition overshadowing any sense of morality or empathy.
They cruelly clip the angels’ wings, removing their freedom and agency. What began as salvation for the angels becomes their captivity, as they are subjected to inhumane treatment. The couple, blinded by their growing obsession, justifies this exploitation as a necessary means to achieve the life they desperately crave.
Meanwhile, the angels’ suffering is laid bare, mirroring a broader commentary on systemic injustices in society. The audience witnesses the moral unravelling of the X.E.s, as their relationship fractures further and their humanity erodes under the weight of their choices.
The opera reaches its devastating crescendo as the consequences of unchecked desperation and ambition come to light. The angels endure harrowing cruelty, while the X.E.s find themselves trapped in the very desperation they sought to escape.
Introduction Guide
Read our guide to the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Angel’s Bone including details about the story, the history and more about ENO’s production.
Angel's Bone FAQs
Angel’s Bone is about two angels who are found battered and bruised by a married couple, Mr and Mrs X.E. The couple intend to care for the angels but instead lock them in a room to exploit them to gain fame and fortune. The opera is an allegory for modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
Angel’s Bone explores themes including exploitation, complicity and the erosion of morality. The opera examines how desperation can corrupt compassion, transforming care into captivity. It also invites audiences to confront uncomfortable questions about their own role in systemic injustices.
The opera Angel’s Bone was written by the Chinese American composer Du Yun and Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek. Du Yun won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2017, and she was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2018.
Angel’s Bone was written in 2015 and debuted in New York in 2016. This contemporary opera explores themes of trauma and exploitation through its innovative storytelling and music.
Du Yun and Royce Vavrek created Angel’s Bone to address the widespread realities of human trafficking and modern slavery through the operatic form. Rather than using conventional approaches, they sought to make these grave issues visceral and impossible to ignore through unconventional musical language and provocative storytelling.
Meet the Creators of Angel's Bone
Du Yun
