Preview: Life is a Dream

October 20-22, 7:30 p.m., October 22, 2:30 p.m.

Loeb Experimental Theater

Directed by Caleb J. Thompson ’14

Produced by Joshua R. McTaggart ’13

In 1635, at the height of the Spanish Golden Age of the arts and nearly four centuries before “Inception,” priest and playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca used the arts to probe the limits of reality and dreams. “Life is a Dream,” his most famous play, is a tragicomic tale, both markedly outmoded and startlingly modern, of honor, revenge, fact, and fiction—at least for Polish Prince Segismundo (Bryan D. Kauder ’14). Imprisoned since birth due to a malicious prophecy, the Prince is drugged and given a brief chance to prove himself worthy of the throne. He is ultimately sent back to prison and made to believe that it was all a dream, but not before throwing Poland into turmoil and engendering a popular revolt. The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) will move this play onto the modern stage while preserving the style of the original work—right down to the proper length of the actors’ pauses in dialogue—in its new production.

A few of the social tensions underlying the play, especially the concept of honor, can seem foreign to modern audiences. Calderón may have held similar reservations about it. “In Spain, if someone dishonored you, you were bound to take revenge, but Calderón suggests here that pursuing personal vendettas and this idea that you have to restore your honor is actually self-destructive,” says director and Crimson arts editor Caleb J. Thompson ’14. “Back in the seventeenth century, this was actually very original.” Actor Nancyrose Houston ’15 senses the idea of vindictive honor and social maneuvering in her portrayal of the character Estrella. “I want to be the queen, but at the same time I don’t have a say in anything,” she says.

While the accessibility of the theme of honor may have expired, the supporting concept of the pain of spurned love has stood the test of time. “At the core, the ideas of unreciprocated love and being slighted by a lover are very relatable,” says actor Darcy C. Donelan ’14. This HRDC production hopes to bring a modern consciousness to the Spanish classic’s original themes of love and honor.