Production Language English
Country of Origin Scotland
Description In 1635, when thirty-four-year-old Pedro Calderón de la Barca wrote Life is a Dream, Spain's Golden Age was in full flower, yielding such epochal masterpieces as de Rojas' Celestina, Cervantes' Don Quixote and Velasquez's luminous paintings. Considered on par with Hamlet and King Lear, Calderón's zeitgeist-alert fantasy is rife with romance, tragedy, intrigue, comedy, and moral contemplation.
Life is a Dream relays the tale of one hapless Prince Segismundo who, imprisoned from birth by his star-gazing father for fear that the boy would one day overthrow him, becomes king for one chaotic day. It is rich fodder for Scotland's Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, in its American debut, and the Catalan director/designer team of Calixto Bieito and Carles Pujolwhich. This adventurous, wonderfully kinetic production (performed in English) was the smash hit of the 1998 Edinburgh Festival.
Identifier 1999f.00670
