Playwright: Jose Rivera after Calderon de la Barca
At: Greasy Joan & Co., the Athenaeum, 2936 N. Southport
Runs through: May 20
Phone: 312-902-1500 ( Ticketmaster ) or at box office; $20
By Jonathan Abarbanel
The stars predict new-born Prince Segismundo will become a tyrant, so King Basilio imprisons his son in a desolate fortress, where he's primitively raised in ignorance of his royal birth. At 25, Segismundo is drugged and brought to the palace, reawakening as the royal heir with unlimited power. Will his natural nobility defeat the astrological predictions? Or will his savage instincts hold sway? Failing this test arranged by Basilio, the prince is drugged again, returned to his prison and told his brief royal life was just a dream. However, civil war erupts when Basilio names a foreigner as his heir instead of Segismundo. Chastened by battle, father and son finally embrace in harmony as Basilio crowns Segismundo, who nonetheless believes he's still dreaming.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca's 1632 philosophical comedy, La vida es Sueño ( Life is a Dream ) , is the best-known play from Spain's literary Golden Age. It's a romance in the manner of Shakespeare's Pericles, complete with a clown and a comic subplot about Basilio's throne-seeking niece and nephew. The play's continued popularity proves its audience appeal, even though there's no standard English version of it. I've seen five productions, each one a different adaptation.
This one, Sueño, by contemporary playwright Jose Rivera, is effective but radical. Rivera makes two major ( and several minor ) alterations to the original, changing the location from Poland to Spain and coupling Segismundo to a different woman. The first change is gratuitous—hey, it's a Spanish play—while the femme switch violates the traditional code of honor. Rivera also significantly vulgarizes the text—especially the comedic—and adds numerous linguistic anachronisms, some with political twists, such as 'deja vu,' 'political prisoner,' 'post-modern' and 'genocide.'
Still, Rivera remains faithful to the central themes of bestial nature vs. human nature, and dream vs. truth/reality. ( Are not dreams real? ) Above all, Rivera retains Calderon de la Barca's sense of poetic image and phrase. For example, Segismundo describes himself as 'a walking mirage' and declares to a woman, 'Your voice: Is that what they mean by melody? Your face: Is that what they mean by art?'
Sueño and Greasy Joan & Co. are an excellent match. Julieanne Ehre's staging is vigorous without ever feeling rushed, and astutely balance serious and comic elements. With one exception, the principal actors are dynamic and forceful, especially Carlo Garcia as comely Segismundo and Kristina Klemetti as wronged Rosaura. Madrid St. Angelo, familiar for his directing work at Bailiwick, plays foolish King Basilio with gravitas and a rich voice, while Desmin Borges brings fine classical clowning skills to the servant, Clarin.
Scenic designer Kevin Depinet's austere fortress with Moorish flourishes and Charles Cooper's surprisingly varied lighting are highly effective. Alison Heryer's rich-looking costumes supply welcome splashes of period color.