LIFE'S A DREAM. To 18 September.
London
LIFE'S A DREAM
by Pedro Calderon de la Barca adapted by Adrian Mitchell and John Barton
The Blue Elephant Theatre, 59a Bethwin Road, Camberwell, London, SE5 0XT
To 18 September 04
Tues Sat 7.30pm
Post-show talk Wed 15 September
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS: 020 7701 0100
Review:Peter Kinsey 2 September
Dream classic in a production that's no nightmare.Life's a Dream is considered the masterpiece of Spanish playwright Calderon, near contemporary of Shakespeare. It never ceases to excite with its themes of fate, love, honour and revenge and its central reflection on the nature of reality.
The King of Poland, Basilio, has banished his son, Sigismund, to a tower in the wilderness in order to thwart a horoscope, predicting his cruelty should he inherit the throne. Much later, to test the truth of the prediction, he has his son drugged and brought to the palace. When the Prince wakes up, his actions appear to confirm it. He is drugged once more and returned to his grim imprisonment, persuaded at first that his time in the palace has all been just a dream. Eventually, he escapes. The play has a marvellous narrative drive, with echoes of Shakespeare, Pirandello, even Dumas, and countless fairy tales.
John Barton and Adrian Mitchell's 1983 adaptation catches the mix of poetic lyricism and everyday directness that made its writer so popular. This is a challenge to the cast of Snowy Dreams Inc, who do not always pitch the balance right, sometimes playing too realistically, when a more theatrical style is needed, and vice versa.
Nevertheless, they play with conviction and solid characterisation: for instance, the world-weariness of John Persson's Basilio; the wild, confused passion of Sheryl Gannaway's Rosaura, and the foppish, devious opportunism of Richard Cunningham's Astolfo. Philip Lee, as Clarion, a sort of commedia cousin of Lear's fool, provides a singing clown who can actually sing, holding a line with robust clarity.
The actors take tragic and comic advantage of the many short soliloquies and frequent asides that occur liberally throughout the play. They could even afford to take this further, especially in the intimacy that this venue allows, looking more into the individual eyes of the audience, rather than generally at it.
Caz Banstead, assisted by the minimal set of Mila Sanders, directs a speedily paced production, without missing contrasting moments of stillness, like the isolated wisdom of Basilio, and the rage of Sigismund.
Rosaura: Sheryl Gannaway
Clarion: Philip Lee
Sigismund: Staten Eliot
Clotaldo: Vito Hind
Pedro: Jon Hewines
Instanzo: Richard Mason
Eleanora/Maria: Jo Dockery
Astolfo: Richard Cunningham
Estrella: Sarah Everard
Basilio: John Persson
Director: Caz Binstead
Designer: Mila Sanders
Lighting: Felix Oehl
Music: Monkey Steak
Costume: Huriye Hernati
Fight director: James Hammond
2004-09-04 01:41:06