Life is a Dream
La Vida es Sueño
Written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
In a version by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod
Performed in Spanish with surtitles.
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Life is a Dream
La Vida es Sueño
Cast and creative team
Cast
| Name |
|---|
| Ernesto Arias |
| Prince Ezeanyim |
| David Luque |
| Rebeca Matellán |
| Manuel Moya |
| Alfredo Noval |
| Goizalde Núñez |
| Antonio Prieto |
| Irene Serrano |
Creative Team
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Director | Declan Donnellan |
| Designer | Nick Ormerod |
| Assistant Director | Josete Corral |
| Lighting | Ganecha Gil |
| Sound Design and Composer | Fernando Epelde |
| Movement Director | Amaya Galeote |
| Dramaturgy Advisor | Pedro Víllora |
| Assistant Designer | Alessio Meloni |
| Costume Assistant | Elena Colmenar |
| Sound Assistant | Gastón Horischnik |
| Lighting Assistant | Javier Hernandez |
| Props | Sira González |
| Stage Manager | Alex Stanciu |
| Technical Director (2022-23) | Raúl Sánchez |
| Technical Director (2023-) | Oscar Sainz |
| Company Manager | Elisa Fernández |
| Interpreter | Juan Ollero |
| Publicity Designer | Javier Naval |
Previous performances
Previous Performances
| Date | Location |
|---|---|
| 1–2 March 2024 | Pozuelo de Alarcón, MIRA Teatro, Spain |
| 23–24 February 2024 | A Coruña, Teatro Rosalía de Castro, Spain |
| 17 February 2024 | Santiago de Compostela, Auditorio de Galicia, Spain |
| 3–4 February 2024 | Palma de Mallorca, Teatro Principal, Spain |
| 27 January 2024 | Murcia, Teatro Romea, Spain |
| 28 December 2023 | Cuenca, Teatro Auditorio de Cuenca José Luis Perales, Spain |
| 15–16 December 2023 | Bilbao, Teatro Arriaga Antzokia, Spain |
| 25 Nov–2 Dec 2023 | Buenos Aires, Complejo Teatral de Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| 27–28 October 2023 | Logroño, Teatro Bretón de los Herreros, Spain |
| 20 October 2023 | Valdepeñas, el Centro Cultural “La Confianza,” Spain |
| 12–15 October 2023 | Genoa, Teatro Nazionale Genova, Italy |
| 5 October 2023 | Vitoria-Gasteiz, Teatro Principal Antzokia (Festival Internacional de Teatro de Vitoria-Gasteiz), Spain |
| 23–27 August 2023 | Edinburgh, Lyceum Theatre (Edinburgh International Festival), UK |
| 21–22 July 2023 | Gijón, Teatro Jovellanos, Spain |
| 17–18 July 2023 | Almada, Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite, Portugal |
| 9–10 July 2023 | Barcelona, Teatre Grec (El Grec Festival de Barcelona), Spain |
| 30 June –5 July 2023 | Almagro, AUREA (Almagro Festival), Spain |
| 15 June 2023 | Sofia, National Theatre “Ivan Vazov,” Bulgaria |
| 2–3 June 2023 | Budapest, National Theatre, Hungary |
| 5 May 2023 | Alicante, Teatro Principal, Spain |
| 13–16 April 2023 | London, Barbican, UK |
| 9–10 March 2023 | Albi, Scène Nationale, France |
| 15 Dec 2022–26 Feb 2023 | Madrid, CNTC Teatro Clásico, Spain |
| 2 December 2022 | Avilés, Centro Niemeyer, Spain |
| 19–20 November 2022 | València, Teatro Principal, Spain |
| 12–13 November 2022 | Valladolid, Teatro Calderón, Spain |
| 22–23 October 2022 | Girona, Teatro Municipal, Spain |
| 14–16 October 2022 | Seville, Teatro Lope de Vega, Spain |
Reviews
Reviews
UK
“Fiercely astute… Ormerod’s stunning green-doored design — which remains the backdrop throughout — deftly enables the atmosphere to swing between dream and nightmare.”
The Times
“Absorbing, dreamlike.”
The Stage
“Declan Donnellan’s direction has its gaze trained on the destabilising horror of Segismundo’s lifelong seclusion and subsequent gaslighting.”
WhatsOnStage
“An emerald fever dream of a production… The vision is of a Lynchian nightmare: a single wall lines the back of the stage with the looming emptiness of the Barbican Theatre clad in darkness behind it. Characters appear through doors with Looney Tunes-like surrealism, conjured from the liminal space behind it.”
BroadwayWorld
“Blends the optics of a garish dream with unsettling slapstick.”
The Guardian
“The show’s cast, an ensemble of only 9 players, is a troupe of masters. They balance the show’s intricate philosophical commentary with comedy which verges on slapstick and performances grounded in realism.”
Theatre Weekly
Spain
“A roller-coaster of surprises… Uncomfortable, controversial, brilliant.”
ABC
“Exceptional, highly original and surprising… we don’t remember having seen a more original, daring and transgressive staging of Life is a Dream.”
La Última Bambalina
“Intense brilliance.”
20 Minutos
“Surprises and excites.”
Memorias de un Tiquis Miquis
“Donnellan exposes the prodigious work of actors. He demands of them a versatility and an intensity that oscillates from the physicality to introspection, from laughter to grief, from lightness to the weight of the chains.”
El Confidencial
“In Donnellan’s production, joy and delicacy contrast intensely with the depth of the tragedy.”
El País
“Actually makes us reconsider the gravity and the transcendence of Calderón.”
Volodia
“Life is an illusion,
a shadow,
a story”
“Donnellan’s production is grounded with agility, audacity and irreverence… the verse resonates more powerfully than ever.”
Prensa Social
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