Classic plays like Life Is a Dream (La vida es sueño) are rarities on today’s professional stages. Upstream Theater deserves the gratitude of St. Louis theatergoers for staging the 1635 play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The production features brilliant performances in the excellent Penguin Classics translation by G. J. Racz.

The Wikipedia article on Calderón says he “is regarded as one of Spain’s foremost dramatists and one of the finest playwrights of world literature.” In the introduction to his translation, Racz says Life Is a Dream is “a work many hold to be the supreme example of Spanish Golden Age drama.”

The key character is Segismund, the son of King Basil of Poland. At his birth, Segismund’s stars predicts he will grow up to be a cruel, reckless prince who will divide the kingdom and subjugate his father. To keep this prophecy from coming true, Basil imprisons Segismund in a secret tower.

Twenty-five years later, Basilio has second thoughts and devises a plan to test the prophecy. He drugs Segismund, brings him from prison to the palace, and has him treated like a prince. If Segismund defies expectations, Basil will turn the kingdom over to his son. If Segismund demonstrates the predicted cruelty, he will be drugged again, returned to prison and told that his time in the palace was only a dream. Basil will then abdicate in favor his nephew and niece, Astolf and Stella, who are first cousins. Segismund fails the test, but the play is far from over when he returns to prison.

In a secondary plot, a young woman named Rosaura disguises herself as man to seek revenge on Astolf, who seduced and abandoned her. In the opening scene, Rosaura and her servant, Clarion, encounter the imprisoned Segismund. His jailer, Clotaldo, recognizes the sword Rosaura is carrying as the one he left behind in Moscow so that it would eventually go to his child.

Astrological explanations of Segismund’s character will carry little weight with contemporary audiences, which also will be unsatisfied with the options open to Rosaura for restoring her honor. Even so, Life Is a Dream is still a profound and moving exploration of the themes of appearance versus reality and nature versus nurture.

The play’s dialogue is elevated but still highly accessible in Racz’s verse translation. Under Philip Boehm’s direction, the superb Upstream actors consistently bring out the beauty, meaning, and emotional impact of the language. They have dug deeply into their characters and project even the subtlest emotions with telling inflections and gestures.

Reginald Pierre encompassed the full range of Segismund feelings, from inmost gloom to murderous rage. Jerry Vogel’s Basil is an earnest thoughtful king, trying to do what is best for his country. Jennifer Theby-Quinn gives powerful expression to the sorrow of the wronged Rosaura.

Gary Glasgow evinces the onerous burden Clotaldo carries because of the orders he must carry out and the secrets he must maintain. Mitchell Henry-Eagles’s Astolf and A. J. Baldwin’s Stella are well schooled in the intrigue of the court. The clowning is precisely judged in Alan Knoll’s delightful portrayal of Clarion. Bryce A. Miller and Michael Pierce perform admirably as guards, servants, and soldiers. Pierce directed the stage combat.

Michele Friedman Siler’s costumes establish the splendor of the court. Patrick Huber’s scenic design features a slightly elevated platform that serves the action well along with the properties by Emma Glose. The drama is enhanced by Steve Carmichael’s lighting and Philip Boehm and Sabria Bender’s sound.

Life Is a Dream continues through November 3 at The Marcelle, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by ProPhotoSTL
Clotaldo (Gary Glasgow, right) recognizes the sword carried by Rosaura (Jennifer Theby-Quinn).