The exotic dancer Mata Hari was accused of spying for the Germans during World War I and was executed by a French firing squad, but her guilt is still being debated.

The show's original production by David Merrick received a pre-Broadway tryout in December 1967 at National Theatre in Washington, DC, starring Austrian actress Marisa Mell in the title role opposite Pernell Roberts, who left Bonanza to star in the show; the crew included director Vincente Minnelli, set designer Jo Mielziner, costume designer Irene Sharaff, and choreographer Jack Cole.

[3][4] In December 1968, the authors brought a more modest version of it to New York's off-Broadway Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theater) under the title Ballad for a Firing Squad.

[7] In 1917, Captain Henry LaFarge, a French military intelligence officer, believes that the exotic dancer, Mata Hari, is the most dangerous German spy in France; he is obsessed with bringing her to justice.

The story is interwoven with scenes portraying a young soldier who evolves from a naïve and idealistic youth into a war-hardened, but disillusioned, killer.