Pedro Calderon de La Barca is one of the great writers of Spain’s Golden Age and Life is a Dream, written in 1635, is generally considered to be his masterpiece. It is rarely performed in the UK. I have seen it only once and that was in 2009 at the Donmar Warehouse in Jonathan Mumby’s production with Dominic West in the leading role.
So, I looked forward to seeing what Cheek by Jowl’s director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod would make of it in their first Spanish language production, their first collaboration with Madrid’s Compania Nacional de Teatro Clasico.
Basilio, The King of Poland, a superstitious man, believes the omens which say that Segismundo, his son and heir, will grow up to be a brutal tyrant. So, he locks him up in a tower where he is kept in chains and solitary confinement.
The King, not fully appreciating the depth of his son’s hatred for him and his desire for revenge, releases him. He behaves in exactly the way which was foretold. He is locked up again and led to believe that all that happened on his release was but a dream.
Segismundo is bewildered. Is life a dream and, if it is, how do you know if you are awake or asleep? Calderon explores the conflicting worlds of dreams and reality; but the line between reality and fantasy is so blurred that the characters are lost in a kind of limbo.
“What crime have I committed? What am I being punished for?” asks Segismundo, who is played by Alfredo Noval. “You were born. That’s the worst crime you could ever commit,” is the reply.
I didn’t find Donnellan and Ormerrod’s version particularly helpful. I didn’t feel I was watching Calderion’s play. It no longer had the impact I remembered.
Cheek by Jowl’s Life is a Dream will be touring Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria and Portugal in May, June and July. You can find out more by following this link.
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