LW Opera Club
All are welcome to come to the free screening of Thomas Ades’ “The Exterminating Angel” on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 1:30 p.m. in the Learning Center of Clubhouse 3. Regarded by critics as one of the best operas of the current century, it stands as a challenge to interpretation by the thousands of viewers who have already seen it.
Esteemed club member Joyce Bachner will introduce it. The story is based on the 1962 surreal art film of the same title, by the Spanish director Luis Bunuel. It depicts a real-life roomful of people who find themselves engaged in psychological imprisonment, regressing as human beings to their basic animal status—desperate for survival. The film offers no explanation from the standpoint of reason. It is up to each viewer to decipher the mess.
Act 1 shows highly successful guests arriving for dinner at the home of Lucia and Eduardo de Nobile. They include captains of industry, an army colonel, a clergyman, a conductor, an opera singer, a pianist, a young socialite, a doctor and his patient. As the entrances occur curiously twice in succession, the hosts learn that all their employees have other commitments and state their immediate departure, leaving only the head waiter.
In Act 2 the entire roomful discovers that they are unable to depart the drawing room and so are losing their social decorum. Stress arises and arguments ensue. They grow fearful and despondent. One of the guests dies.
In Act 3, understanding occurs when they realize that by repeating actions in the same manner as when they first arrived, they can escape. Yet as they are freed and hit the outside sidewalk seeking the nearest church, they encounter the entrapment beginning all over again.
Ades’ music is eclectic and adds immensely to Bunuel’s brutal story, a portrayal of civility breaking down and human nature disintegrating under improvised stress among people regarded as highly evolved. Stephen Sondheim incorporated this story into his 2023 musical “Here We Are,” with his newly composed popular music and more easily understandable lyrics.
The production is in English with English subtitles. People are encouraged to wear masks indoors. No dues or fees are collected. For more information, contact Margaret Gillon at 562-370-3844 or email Margaretgi@yahoo.com.
