Nabokov makes the point in the 1965 written foreword that while the work sounds a "prophetic forenote" - the invention is a weapon of mass destruction - he has no political message and does not support the peaceniks of his time.

Act 1: In the office of the Minister of War: The minister of war receives Salvator Waltz - " a haggard inventor, a fellow author" - who declares that he controls a new machine of immense destructive power called Telemort or Telethanasia that can blow up cities, mountains, even countries.

Trance (in Russian her name is son, meaning dream), a journalist who becomes Waltz's assistant suggests to appoint a committee.

Act 2: In the Council Hall of the Ministry: A committee of bumbling old generals is in session to decide what to do after more experimental explosions have made it clear that the power of the weapon is enormous.

In contrast to the "black pit of reality", Nabokov wants the scenery colorful and rich and the uniforms of the generals "must glow like Christmas trees".

The generals names were Berg, Breg, Brig, Brug, Gerb, Grab, Grib, Gorb, Grob, and Grub originally, and are changed to Bump, Dump, Gump, Hump, Lump, Mump, Rump, Stump, Tump, Ump, and Zump in the final English translation.

Morris indicated that the play "with its grotesque combination of lyrical poetry, subdued emotional pain and manic, farcical activity, approximates the absurdist dimensions of an Ionesco or Beckett".

[3] The Time review from 1969 performance sees the play as a parable of the writer who tears things down and rebuilds new worlds.