The production will be fully costumed and staged, and accompanied by an unusual ensemble of instruments including banjo, harmonium and alto saxophone. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling 432-4158. After a prologue introducing the characters and setting, Harlequin and Death reflect on the sorry state of the world, where both life and death have lost their meaning. Death is outraged and refuses to cooperate. The Kaiser, conducting the war through a microphone from his empty palace, learns that despite all the fighting, no one is dying.
Hospitals are full of the wounded who are unable to die.
Prisoners are hanged, but remain alive. The Kaiser is appalled. The music, composed in 1943, is considered to be Ullmann's masterpiece. It has been called expressive, intense and melodic, and is reminiscent of the theater music of Kurt Weill. He was brought up in Vienna and served in the Austrian army during World War I. After studying with Arnold Schoenberg, he joined the New German Theater in Prague as a conducting assistant 1920-1927.