No performance in Berkeley would be complete without a political statement. The Tyrant, a 65mn chamber opera west coast premiere which kicked of the Berkeley Edge Fest Thursday night at the Zellerbach playhouse, on the UC campus, does not disappoint. A tyrant, operatic tenor John Duykers, is confined to his throne, afraid of being overthrown if his august tush were to sit somewhere else. The libretto is loosely based on an Italo Calvino short story, so you’ll recognize the absurdist set up.

Despite wearing the beret of a dictator, Duykers comes across as pretty innocuous as far as tyrant goes: he anguishes about writing a speech for the 20th anniversary of the coup that put him in power, he is worried about his people loving him; he is weary of forcing people to sing for him, so much he’d rather set up an American Idol contest to identify the voice he overheard through his palace window. He is a lion in a zoo: a king trapped in a gilded cage of his own paranoid making.

Since he is stuck on his throne, he can only enjoy his kingdom through the sounds that make it through the walls. If you get over the fact that this is a conceit which humanize the tyrant and enter into moral relativity territory, it’s a cool starting point to make some music. Actually, Paul Dresher, the composer, and Jim Lewis, the librettist, do offer an epiphany to their tyrant, so don’t feel too bad empathizing with him.

John Duykers carries the performance with great conviction, falling more and more into the paranoia until the final leap into, what again?, folly or redemption? He is a tenor who as performed on the SF opera stage, so he can sing. But he has great acting chops and can give life to his character, he inhabits the role as comfortably as he wears his fancy shiny dictator suit. Actually, we have to admit that, in a small venue like the Zellerbach playhouse, the amplification of his voice was not necessary and rather poorly executed: crumbling a sheet of paper becomes a most annoying song, and we don’t really need to hear Duykers breathing through his nose so much. Duykers voice appeared tentative at times, most likely from not knowing what the sound system was going to give him.

The musical atmosphere matches the rather oppressive mood of the dictator. It swings in between different styles, but is anchored into a limited palette of sounds and a somewhat minimalist instrumentation. Dresher does not allow it to veer into lyricism and keep a nice tension going throughout the piece. There’s tons of fun in the score too, with a demented clock-themed piece and some sweet songs of yearning for peace and quiet toward the end. And there are some digressions in the libretto to bring some fresh air: sex life is good for kings, do we learn. Who would have suspected? And also, if someone tells you: “our way of life, our very freedom, has come under attack”, don’t believe them, opines this dictator, to an awkward chuckle of the audience.

The orchestra (the Paul Dresher Ensemble) contains only six instrumentists, all excellent. Percussionist Joel Davel has the tasks of setting a beat throughout the performance will juggling several xylophones and gongs and drums, and he does it with quite some flair. Berkeley grad Paul Dresher came on stage and took a bow at the end. Dang, when we go back to our alma mater, nobody stands up and claps for us.

The Edge Fest continues with another performance of the Tyrant tonight at 8pm, and another concert of the music of Frederic Rzewski tomorrow (the first one was last night) at 3pm. It is an instrumental performance with piano (with Rzewski himself and Ursula Oppens at the keys) and percussions, but some of the works -say, one 2004 piece titled Bring Them Home!, reflect the opposition of Rzewski to the Iraq war, so you’ll get your Berkeley political helping.

Tickets available through Cal Performances box office: (510) 642-9988, at CalPerfs web site or at the door.