Canadian Opera Company young artists of the Ensemble Studio will present The Emperor of Atlantis by Victor Ullhmann at the Imperial Oil Theatre, Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre, 227 Front St. E. Toronto, Nov 23-30.

Ullhmann composed The Emperor of Atlantis while in the Terezin concentration camp in 1944. He wrote it on the reverse side of prisoner information forms. Mr. Ullhmann became a victim of the death camp at Auschwitz. The Emperor of Atlantis is an allegorical work in which an autocratic Emperor is rendered powerless when Death resigns and people can no longer be killed. Death agrees to resume his role only if the Emperor is willing to be the first to die.

This COC premiere will be conducted by COC Artistic Director Richard Bradshaw and Bruno Ferrandis. John Neville directs and sets and costumes are by Teresa Przybylski.

Tickets are $26 - $32.50. Box office: 416 363-2348.

-- By Ray Ellicock
Theatre News Canada