English National Opera’s first production created in Manchester is Angel’s Bone, a one-act opera by Du Yun and the librettist Royce Vavrek. It was premièred in 2016 in New York and subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize, but we shouldn’t hold that against it. Musically, at least, it’s certainly more interesting than recent US imports like Jeanine Tesori’s Blue – worthy, sub-minimalist Yankslop addressing the fashionable issues of the day. (It’s funny how the classical music world imagines that the way to reach British audiences in 2026 is to programme stuff that was relevant to Americans in 2016.)
It was a pretty horrible experience nonetheless. Daytime TV-fixated suburbanites Mr and Mrs X.E. (Rodney Earl Clarke and Allison Cook) discover a pair of grounded angels (Matthew McKinney and Mariam Wallentin) in their backyard and must decide what to do with them. The couple are stressed and on their uppers; perhaps the heavenly visitors are a sign of hope? So they rip off the angels’ wings, imprison them in their pink-tiled bathroom and invite their friends to a celebratory party, at which the angels are raped. Because? Because humans (especially suburban, middle-class humans) are hateful and the world is vile. Enjoy the show!
