The Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down

the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down is an opera created in the early 1980s by director Robert Wilson to music by Philip Glass, David Byrne, Gavin Bryars and others. The vast five-act work has never been performed whole.

Originally, The Civil Wars was conceived as a single daylong piece of music theatre to accompany the 1984 Summer Olympics. Six composers from six countries were to compose sections of Wilson's text. After initial premieres in their countries of origin, the six parts were to be fused in one epic performance in Los Angeles during the games, a parallel to the internationalist ideals of the Olympic movement.

The premiere of the full work was cancelled when funding failed to materialize (despite the Olympic Committee's offer of matching funds) and deadlines were not met. But four of the six sections had full productions under Wilson's direction in Minneapolis, Rome, Rotterdam and Cologne, with workshop productions of the other two sections in Tokyo and Marseille.

The Civil Wars, as presented by American Repertory Theatre in Boston, was the only work recommended by the jury of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, composed of critics Mel Gussow, Edwin Wilson and Bernard Weiner. The recommendation was unanimous. However, the Pulitzer board declined to award the prize.

A documentary on the work's creative process, Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars, was released in 1987. It is out of print.