The Seven Deadly Sins, the last opera collaboration between Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, is a biting satire of capitalism and an absurdist allegory on the immigrant struggle for self-determination. The story is ostensibly about a girl named Anna who leaves her home in rural Louisiana to pursue her dreams in the big American cities. Anna (who is actually performed by two people, Anna 1 and Anna 2), visits seven cities over seven years. In each city she combats one of the classical seven deadly sins: Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, and Envy.

Embedded in this allegorical tale is a complex tension: It’s a mocking and irreverent satire of the “American Dream,” but tucked away in Anna 2’s silence is the possibility of virtue amongst cruelty. This modern take on the 1933 opera examines the foundations of the American Dream, the virtualization of freedom, and if there is anything left of that dream for the rest of us?

Produced at the California Institute of the Arts as a co-production between the School of Theater and School of Music.