Thomas Adès 

The Exterminating Angel

2pm Saturday, November 18th

Cineplex Cinemas Sydney

Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name.

Act 1 - A luxurious mansion.

Before a fancy party, some servants inexplicably leave the de Nobile mansion. While the guests enjoy the meal, the rest of the servants, except the butler Julio, escape the house. When it is time to depart, the guests feel no motivation to go home and instead make themselves comfortable for the night.

Act 2

The Doctor examines Russell, who is dying. Still, no one can exit the room. Julio arrives with breakfast. Leticia entreats the butler not to enter the drawing room, but he too becomes trapped. The guests begin to panic. During the night, Russell dies.

Act 3

A crowd of people have gathered outside, but nobody is able to enter the house. Inside, Julio and Raúl burst a pipe for water. Everyone becomes increasingly irrational. Eduardo and Beatriz take their own lives. The guests believe that a sacrifice is needed to secure their liberation. Suddenly, Leticia realizes that everyone is in exactly the same place as when their captivity began. They repeat their actions from that first night and are ultimately able to escape, but their freedom will not last long.

Thomas Adès talks about the production in this 2 minute video.