TSMS_Life_is_a_Dream

** Critique by Theresa Stratmann ** The University Theatre produced a very unique rendering of //Life is a Dream// for their second play of the season. Originally a play written around 1635 by Spanish playwright Pedro Calderon de la Barca, this version is merged with the plot of another one of Calderon’s plays, //The Marvelous Puppet Show//, adapted for the 21st century, and incorporates song and dance.
 * Life is a Dream **

With such a unique adaptation of the play, I will first discuss the script and directing choices made. This play was extensively modified and shaped by the playwright George Pate and the director, Dr. Marla Carlson. The end product incorporates elements from many of Calderon’s plays, mainly //The Marvelous Puppet Show// and //Life is a Dream//. //The Marvelous Puppet Show// is a story like the emperor’s new clothes, in which a puppet show is performed that is invisible to those who are illegitimate or not of pure Christian blood. To modernize this story, the play is set in current times and a group of businessmen are the ones being deceived. It is sold to them as a team-building game and boasts the latest technology – even more fantastic than the hologram of Will. I. Am. The rather dated concern of legitimate birth and religion, so prominent during the Spanish inquisition, is replaced with the idea that those who did not gain their jobs and success in an honest, hard-working matter cannot see the images shown. (This could be a comment on current political sentiment, as now voiced by Occupy Wall Street.) These un-suspecting businessmen and women are then slowly drawn into acting out a fantastical play which is the plot of the original //Life is a Dream//, about a prince imprisoned by his father because it was prophesized that he would be a brutal king. This part of the play is kept in its original setting, and aside from moments of comic relief and the ending, seems fairly true to the original play. This merging of stories worked surprisingly well. It made complete sense to turn the puppet show into the plot of //Life is a Dream//. Then, making the businessmen act out the plot adds humor to what would otherwise be a very serious, dramatic play.

In addition to the mixing and modernizing of these plays, the director chose to block many scenes through the use of song and dance. I found this to be very weird...mainly because this was only done occasionally. These businessmen are supposedly making up this play as they go - with the help of Mr. Boots and Ms. Straps -but then you have these extremely planned, synchronized dances which is a bit of a contradiction. Especially when they pull “member of the audience” to play the role of Segismundo and the first thing she does is an extremely synchronized dance. It would have been more effective if the businessmen looked somewhat lost when they are first asked to dance, are heavily guided by Mr. Boots and Mrs. Straps, and then slowly get the hang of it. It looked cool, but I’m not sure if it worked...but then again, if your theme is dreams, dreams have fantastic elements in them. In a dream it could happen.... so maybe it did work? But the businessmen are not dreaming...so I remain a little unsatisfied by how the dance was incorporated. The song worked better. It doesn’t take much to switch between singing and talking. Somehow musicals make this incorporation of song and dance work, but here I felt that it did not always fit.

I also found it very interesting that the director chose to break gender roles in casting the characters. For example, Segismundo, the prince, is played by an actress and his mother by an actor. This was a bit weird, especially since the mother’s most dramatic moment is the fairly graphic story of how she gave birth to Segismundo. For many human experiences, gender can be obsolete, but childbirth being described by a man will never work, that’s a purely female experience. Not only did I find that this choice didn’t work, but I thought the play’s plot was a bit too complicated to add this additional twist to it. Not only are gender roles broken, but other characters switch genders as disguises – like Rosaura pretending to be a man as she travels from Russia to Poland. This disregard for gender made it a lot harder for me to follow the play, especially since the audience’s laughter often made me miss many lines. I like Dr. Carlson’s idea that gender is performative, and it fits well with the theme that life is a dream, but the plot of //Life is a Dream// is complicated enough without this added element. You have feuding families... and engagements...and people in disguise... and fathers hiding the fact that they are people’s fathers.... It was not until the end of the play that I fully understood each person’s character.

Since gender roles were broken, gender was mainly portrayed through the use of costumes. If the actor or actress wore a skirt then they were female, if they wore a vest then they were male. The skirts and vests were very vibrant colors, very suitable for a dream, and the color choices of red, purple, and blue, which are all associated with royalty, were very appropriate. It also seemed like the color of the clothing divided the characters into camps. The characters in purple were supporters or relations of Segismundo, while Astolfo’s supporters and relations wore blue. Clarin, who switches camps, had a vest of both colors. The skirts also had a flow to them that worked beautifully with the choreography. The business attire under these skirts and vests – which looked very bizarre - reminded us that this was all just a play to the characters. Although, simple, the costumes had purpose and in their bizarreness added to the theme of dreams.

The set design and use of props was just as minimalistic as the costuming. The audience comes into a bare stage – no wings, no curtains, just twelve chairs and four boxes. The actors add to this a trunk from which any additional costumes and props originate. The only props used being swords, a book, and Segismundo’s chains. There were no scene changes. Different parts of the stage were the castle and Segismundo’s remote tower in the wilderness. This minimalist set design emphasized this idea of the emperor’s clothes. Everyone of honest ascent to the job should be able to see the sumptuous castle and the cold, wild tower in the mountains. Of course no one can, and so there are often descriptions of the setting by Mr. Boots or Ms. Straps, which are meant to suffice. The set design was therefore very fitting.

This play has pretty deep subject matter and a very heated plot with much action and drama. The playwright therefore chose to use comic relief by having the businessmen comment on how the play is going or ask questions when they are confused. Often this breaks the fourth wall. It also breaks the flow of their play and reminds us that they are just acting out roles. Confused about the plot, at other moments they are doing a perfectly choreographed dance. These two elements did not fit together very well. Incongruous events are normal in dreams, and so it fits the theme of dreams, but at the same time the businessmen are not dreaming. Segismundo is the dreamer. I have talked a lot about the choices the director and playwright made, and although I did not like all their choices, I thought the actors dealt very well with the many complexities of the play. The actress playing Segismundo did a great job – she was forceful and passionate and filled the stage with her character’s presence. She did not hesitate to be angry or romantic. The play required the actors to act, dance, and sing without accompaniment. They had to be the sound, create the setting, and carry the plot as they intermixed comedy and drama. From experience, I know how hard that is to do. It is so much more to remember and be aware of, especially when choreography is so synchronized as this was. I therefore admire them all for rising to the challenge.

I think my main problems with the play go back to the choices of the director and playwright. I feel like they were being very ambitious. Too many things were tried at once and it hurt the clarity and flow of the play. I think what was too much for me were the disregard of gender, the song, and dance. The song and dance did not fit in well, and the disregard of gender, although a neat idea, just hurt the clarity of the plot for me. Yet, the minimalistic set design and costuming both worked very well with the overall concept of the play. Even the combining and modernizing of the two plays worked well. I liked the 21st century references and the idea that one must try to live an honest life. They are especially relevant right now when so many people are frustrated by corporate greed and economic inequality. All this worked well and overall it was an extremely thought-provoking and daring production that was neat to watch.