Karl Kraus 's masterpiece tells the story of man's inhumanity to man across the whole canvas of the First World War. The original 15-hour play has been distilled into a four-hour kaleidoscopic montage of scenes with over 100 characters and depicts the decline of a corrupt, hypocritical society into the brutality and desperation of war-the only thing surviving being hypocrisy.
The one voice of sanity - Kraus the Grouse -is increasingly drowned, first by the patriotic madness and then the unreality of war.Music from the First and Second
Viennese Schools echoes the play's sombre theme -the break-up of diatonic harmony echoing the collapse of civilisation. Translated by Robert David MacDonald. Adapted by Giles Havergal. Director Giles Havergal. Producer Dave Bachelor See part 2 tomorrow 10pm for cast details