NWLifeisaDream

Life Is A Dream focuses on essential questions of humanity and their place in among an ever-shifting conception of reality. The production put on at UGA attempts to inject splashes of modernity into the traditional action and dialogue of the play, however at some points, these attempts can just seem to be a gimmick that are not enveloped with any sense of lasting power. At other times though, they do add to the general humor that attempt to be portrayed by the production. Everything else in the play is reliant on the abilities of the actors to play their characters well enough, as the lighting and sound is kept to a bare minimum throughout the production. While the acting at some points is expressive, especially during instances related to the original script, it fluctuated in quality during the scenes involved with the business presentation. The true mark of diversion from the original text comes from the concept of a business presentation that is most prevalent at the beginning and ending of the play. Two companies meet in a sales pitch with a goal of making a deal over a revolutionary new product that functioned with some massively impressive qualities. These segments were interjected with an attempt to further work with the concepts that are expressed in the original development of Life Is A Dream. The scenario that is simply a skit in the modernized version further encapsulates the concept of a dream within reality; however, the dream is at times fueled by such ferocity and intensity that it becomes a reality in and of itself. Despite the production’s best efforts to incorporate this concept, it is especially confusing and detrimental to the foundations of the plot of the original version before it. More specifically, the beginning of the story of the King of Poland is hampered by frequent stops and alterations that function only in breaking up the escalation of the dramatic action, and thus the tension that should have helped build the climax at the end of the play is not present in as strong of form as it could have been. Even when the play concludes, the audience is still left with questions of the gimmick’s worth in producing enough substance for its featured inclusion in the performance. The business presentation concept, while in line with the original concepts of the play, does not appear or feel to be explored well enough and essentially makes the performance feel like a house divided. Overall, the production would not have just survived without those aforementioned scenes, but thrived, based on the already powerful source material. Adding the weak premise surrounding it simply dilutes the story it presents. The story is modernized by other, less important methods as well. There are fleeting references to Will.I.Am and Bob Seeger as well as modern science, such as the musician asking questions about Schrodinger’s cat. These provide some humor and work best among the modern updates that are given to the production. However, there is still some sense that the humor works against the serious dramatic flow that is built through the main story line of the skit. The setting of the play draws the attention away from the background and tries to establish focus on the actors. As the audience enters, all they see are the props that are set on the stage, set against a black background. Most of the props that are displayed throughout the rest of the play are black as well, including the folding chairs and the device that is said in the beginning to provide to the clients the simulation. This only draws attention to the characters rather than the props because they are the only source of color in the production. They are left to stand in the foreground against the darkness, in plain attention for the audience. This is a smart decision because it allows the emphasis to be on character developments and lofty concepts that are being spouted quickly. The setting remains constant throughout the play, despite changes in scene or action. There is no intermission, as the play is not particularly lengthy and there is no need for scenery change. The lighting as well remains basically constant through the play, illuminating the entire stage at all points, rather than focusing its attention on a specific area of the stage or on a certain character. There is also little to no sound that is used in conjunction with the play. This, again, allows for the play to be done in a more simple way, more similar to the way it would have originally have been acted out. It may, however, have been more effective to use more specialized lighting and sound direction during the scenes relating to the business presentation to emphasis their difference from the playing out of the scenario. During the actual main story of the kingdom of Poland, the general lighting and lack of sound are the best option in advancing the play’s ideas because there is no distraction from the material that is to be presented. The play also makes major use of the “play within a play” convention that is utilized in many other works in dramatic theater. Although there is no actual play, the scenario of the Polish King is that is understood to be created by the revolutionary product is in a sense one, as it is observed by members of the cast, until they too join in on the production. This adds the dimension of the play where the fourth wall is broken down and replaced with a mix of the original work and modern situations. The breaking down of the fourth wall is also propagated by the modern references in the dialogue because the actors seem to make them almost in order to get a response of the audience. Most notably, the fourth wall is clearly demolished when an apparent member of the audience is pulled from her seat in order to join the play’s scenario as the protagonist in line for the throne of Poland. The CEO of the company also addresses the audience in a short monologue about his misunderstanding of everyone’s infatuation with the device that he does not understand. All of this builds to the idea that reality should be questioned, and nothing, even within the performance, should be taken for granted. The acting in the play is without a doubt strongest within the areas of the script that refers to the ascension of the new King of Poland. While this could be due to the source material that allows for ample opportunity to flex whatever acting skill they possessed, they obviously seemed more comfortable than in the business meeting setting. Also as the play goes on, it seems the actors played into their roles more strongly as they became more comfortable with going along with the scenario they played. However, this tactic, despite the laughs it may get from the audience, does not do any justice to the later scenes because where groundwork should have been laid down to understand the play’s later situations, it was merely glossed over. Segismondo is played perhaps best of all, with intensity that is most believable out of the cast of characters. Especially considering the role is played by a female, rather than male, she delivered all of the rashness and rawness that any man could in her position. Despite this, it still never felt that the cast completely shook of the preliminary business meeting scenario and became fully engrossed in their characters to the best of their abilities. The actors did all show pretty strong unity during the interludes where they were expected to dance, chant, and sometimes sing. This provided the interludes with a sense of eerie otherworldliness that set the mood for the coming scenes and relate to the intangible thoughts of dreams that are pondered throughout the play. All of the actors sang and danced in step well enough without accident and only in a few instances did one of them jumble a line, so technically the performances were fine. The costumes, as in line with the setting, lighting and sound were usually kept to the very basic. Mr. Boots and Ms. Straps kept with the theme of darkness and wore black while the two musicians that emerged after them dressed in a more informal way that belied their role as clown-like characters. The rest of the actors attending the business meeting wore regular business attire such as button-up shirts and suspenders. In order to transition to the scenario, bright clothes that showed the station of the individual character were put on, such as regal blue for those in line for the throne. Segismundo’s supposed wild nature is portrayed through his animal skin costume and is starkly contrasted with all of the opulence that he encounters in the costumes of the others. Those people that kept Segismundo in line in the tower wore masks that showed their sneaky intent and made the audience already feel distrust towards them.