First performed off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company in March 2002, The Underpants portrays petty German bureaucrat Theo Maske's unusual problem: his pretty wife's underwear fell down in the middle of town as the King was going by in a local parade. His initial shock turns into concern about his personal and professional reputation, and Theo predicts that dire consequences will follow, lecturing wife Louise about her indiscretion. Little does he know that some of his calamitous predictions are about to take place right under his nose.