''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in a

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

and two acts by Stewart Wallace to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Amy Tan Amy Ruth Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author best known for her novel '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. ...

based on her

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

of the same name. It premiered on 13 September 2008 at the

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, United States, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco W ...

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

, which commissioned the work.

Roles

Plot

''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' traces a Chinese-American woman's search for her own voice and identity as she grapples with her elderly mother's apparent dementia, her husband's ambivalent commitment, and her teen stepdaughters' hurtful self-absorption. Guided by a ghost of uncertain identity, she travels into the past and lives out portions of her mother's tragic youth, gaining insight, forgiveness, and strength. The opera is set both in 1997 San Francisco, and in China and Hong Kong around the outbreak of World War II. Shifting times and locales are linked by a recurring trio of women: American-born Ruth, a professional ghostwriter who scarcely speaks up for herself; her mother, LuLing, who appears both as a querulous old woman and as a selfish adolescent; and LuLing's childhood caretaker known as Precious Auntie, who appears both as a ghost and as the fiery young mother she once was.

Scenes

*Prologue — Dragon Dance – ''A timeless void'' *Act 1, scene 1 – ''Fountain Court Restaurant, San Francisco, 1997'' *Act 1, scene 2 – ''Immortal Heart, a village outside Beijing, 1930s'' *Act 2, scene 1 – ''Hong Kong Harbor, 1940s'' *Act 2, scene 2 – ''A hospital room, San Francisco, 1997'' For further details, see '' The Bonesetter's Daughter''.

Analysis

The score folds authentic Chinese musical expression into an essentially Western idiom, just as the libretto incorporates Chinese themes—such as the importance of family, and the power of ghosts and lucky charms—within an American framework. That framework includes many popular references, including a wry jab at "Medicare-approved" nursing homes and reference to Ruth's profession as a ghostwriter, which her immigrant mother misconstrues literally to mean a transcriptionist for ghosts. Notably, the infamous O. J. Simpson murder trial of 1995 becomes the vehicle by which elderly LuLing remembers and narrates traumatic events from her adolescence in China, which are revealed as the crux of her conflicts with her daughter.

References

* * (review ) * (review )
Stewart Wallace: ''The Bonesetter's Daughter''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonesetters Daughter, The 2008 operas English-language operas Operas Operas set in the United States Operas by Stewart Wallace Operas set in China Operas based on novels Operas based on works by American writers Opera world premieres at San Francisco Opera